Corbyn stance is a complete mess

RICHARD Leonard and Jeremy Corbyn now officially have the same position on Brexit.

It’s just a shame that it makes absolutely no sense.

The Scottish Labour Party conference, which concluded yesterday in Dundee, was dominated by splits over leaving the EU.

Pro-Europe voices, led by former leader Kezia Dugdale, tried to get the party to back membership of the single market in a spirit of making the best of a bad job.

But Leonard took his cue from the UK leadership and blocked anything so sensible from happening.

Corbyn outlined his position in a speech to Scottish delegates on Friday – and it was a complete mess.

He wants the UK to be outside the EU but still have a say in their trade policy.

He wants the UK to be outside the EU’s single market but still have a say in their rules.

And he wants full access to that market alongside opt-outs that no normal member has. It’s the type of fantasy cherry-picking that would make even Boris Johnson blush. It is never going to happen. Point this out privately to Corbyn people and they will insist he has to tread carefully as another election could be round the corner and they can’t risk alienating Brexit backers.

Scottish Labour can certainly vouch for the dangers of taking a strong stance on a controversial constitutional issue.

A third of their supporters defected to the SNP in 2014 in protest at Labour campaigning to keep Scotland in the UK.

But we’re at a point where mere party political advantage is not a good enough excuse for the cowardice in Labour’s stance. The situation is close to a national emergency.

History will not look kindly on politicians who sat idly by while the country committed a needless act of self-sabotage.