OUTCRY OVER LABOUR BREXIT ‘LIES’
Ed Miliband blasted over claims he voted 9 times for departure deal
LABOUR was accused of “taking voters for fools” last night after the party launched a desperate last-ditch attempt to win over Brexit supporters ahead of the General Election.
With opinion polls forecasting a trouncing for Labour candidates in Leave-backing heartlands,
Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign chiefs raced to convince Eurosceptic voters the party wants a revamped Brexit deal. It emerged Ed Miliband told his Leave-backing constituents he voted nine times
for an EU departure deal. In a sign the strategy is already being tried in other areas, a Labour leaflet circulated in Mr Miliband’s Doncaster North constituency claimed the exLabour leader and Remainer voted repeatedly to “sort Brexit”.
Last night EU Exit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the leaflet was evidence Labour was lying to Leave voters. He said: “It’s clear what Labour’s new strategy is in leave voting constituencies: lie.
“People like Ed Miliband are destroying trust in democracy by saying they accept the result of democratic votes, then working to overturn them.
“Corbyn’s Labour are taking voters for fools and now they are trying to pull the same confidence trick on the British people again.” Mr Miliband campaigned for Remain during the 2016 EU referendum and opposed Brexit deals agreed by both Boris Johnson and Theresa May.
Yet his campaign leaflet, signed “Ed Miliband for Doncaster North”, fails to mention those Commons “no” votes.
It says: “We need to sort Brexit. I’ve voted nine times in Parliament for a deal to do that.
“But in this election, I believe what matters even more is whether we have an NHS we can rely on, people can earn enough to bring up their family and our young people have a future.”
Sources close to Mr Miliband said his leaflet was referring to his support for a series of Opposition motions backing Labour’s EU policy, including calling for the UK to remain in the bloc’s customs union and single market.
His spokeswoman said: “Over the last three-and-a-half years, Ed has voted nine times for a customs union, single market and other Labour proposals for a Brexit deal.
“Desperate Tory attempts to throw mud and distract from their plans to sell off the NHS to Donald Trump will fool nobody.”
In 2016, 72 per cent of voters in Doncaster North backed leaving the EU. But in a series of Commons votes, Mr Miliband refused to support a deal, backed delaying Brexit by extending the EU’s Article 50 departure process and favoured a second EU referendum.
In a series of so-called “indicative votes” in the Commons, he backed the UK staying in a customs union with the EU and a Norway-style pact with the bloc.
Labour sources have admitted the party made a key mistake in overestimating the threat posed by the Lib Dems, while underestimating the danger of Labour Leave voters switching to the Tories.
Party strategists have tried to make the NHS the key campaign issue and in the run-up to polling day, are claiming the party is not seeking to stop Britain the EU.
Mr Corbyn, who has vowed to stay neutral in a campaign for a second EU referendum, is expected to tour Leave-voting Labour constituencies in the next few days.
Mr Miliband is among a string of Remain-backing Labour figures at risk of losing their Leavesupporting seats in the December 12 election.
Earlier this week, a voter survey in hundreds of parliamentary constituencies predicted the defeat of ex-Labour Cabinet minister Caroline Flint, who has held Doncaster North’s neighbouring DonValley seat since 1997.
Based on the views of around 100,000 voters, the YouGov survey says the Tories will pick up 44 seats from Labour, largely in the Midlands and the North.
Labour will also lose other key Leave-voting seats, including Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Blackpool, Bolsover, Bury South, Dudley North, Great Grimsby, and Stokeon-Trent to the Tories, it says.
A similar YouGov survey before the 2017 general election accurately predicted a hung parliament.
In Remain-backing areas, Labour is arguing a second EU referendum significantly raises the chance of stopping Brexit altogether.
LABOUR is heading for humiliation at the polls if it takes voters for fools. The party has suddenly woken up to the fury in its traditional heartlands. It should come as no surprise to Jeremy Corbyn that millions of Brexit supporters in Labour-held seats are angry that Britain did not leave the EU on March 29 are now inclined to back a party that promises to restore sovereignty.
In a sign of naked desperation, former Labour leader Ed Miliband now presents himself to the people of Doncaster North as someone who repeatedly voted to “sort Brexit” and backed a deal nine times.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay warned such shameless spinners are destroying trust in democracy by saying they accept the result of democratic votes then work to overturn them.
Britain would be out of the EU if Labour had not played political games. The party backs another referendum that could thwart Brexit.There will be outrage across the country if the 2016 vote is overturned.
People who live in constituencies that have been dominated by Labour for decades may decide to keep Mr Corbyn and his Remain-supporting comrades very far from Downing Street.