Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
..except for May’s
EU is not root of problems... our priorities are right ones
EU and promised Labour would not countenance leaving Britain a “passive recipient” of EU rules.
But he admitted we may end up having only a “right to be heard” in Brussels on future trade, not a veto.
Mr Corbyn also admitted there was no back-up if the bloc refused to give us a meaningful say, adding: “The Plan B is to continue negotiating in order to achieve Plan A.”
Addressing students and Labour members, Mr Corbyn refused calls to retain membership of the EU single market – saying instead that we need a “new and strong relationship with the single market”.
This, he claimed, would allow exemptions to EU rules, making it easier to nationalise the water sector and Royal Mail. Mr Corbyn also promised a “fair and managed” immigra- tion policy but aides could not say if it would cut the number of people coming into the country.
Writing in today’s Mirror, the leader adds: “Let me be crystal clear: it is not migrants who drive down wages, it is bad bosses and bad governments.”
Unions and business leaders welcomed the customs union policy, which the CBI said “will put jobs and living standards first”. GMB general secretary Tim Roache said Labour had shown “clear leadership that would safeguard our ports, transport firms and manufacturing sectors”.
Even the Evening
Standard, edited by Conservative ex-chancellor George Osborne, said: “Tories gifted Corbyn an open goal on the customs union and he just put the ball in.”
Institute of Directors chief Stephen Martin said “many businesses, particularly manufacturers, will be pleased” but warned there were unanswered questions.
Tory Liam Fox will today brand staying in a customs union “a complete sell-out of Britain’s national interests”. The Trade Secretary will say the move would leave us “negotiating with one arm tied behind our back” because Brussels would decide on trade deals. Trade outside the EU has risen from 44% to 57% of our exports over 13 years and we need a “more flexible approach”, Dr Fox will argue.
Meanwhile, Wales and Scotland yesterday rejected a “very big change” that would have broken the deadlock over the Tories’ flagship Brexit Bill.
Mrs May’s deputy David Lidington had offered to let the “vast majority” of powers returned from the EU start in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast rather than Whitehall.
But Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said the legislation remained an “unacceptable attack on devolution” and Scotland’s Brexit Minister Michael Russell said the proposal was “totally unacceptable”. Northern Ireland has no sitting Executive.