Neutral Corbyn told to get ideas in gear
JEREMY Corbyn has been slammed by colleagues and opponents for signalling that he would stay neutral in a second Brexit referendum.
The Labour leader yesterday set himself at odds with the majority of party members by saying as PM he would “carry out whatever the people decide”.
Corbyn has been urged by senior party figures to explicitly back staying in the EU in its next general election manifesto.
Grassroots members are expected to launch a fresh attempt to shift Brexit policy to an explicitly pro-Remain stance at next week’s annual conference in Brighton.
But Corbyn dropped his clearest hint yet that he would stay above the fray in a second referendum.
Outlining the convoluted line Labour would take in office, he wrote: “A Labour government would secure a sensible deal based on the terms we have long advocated, including a new customs union with the EU – a close single market relationship and guarantees of workers’ rights and environmental protections.
“We would then put that to a public vote alongside Remain. I pledge to carry out whatever the people decide, as a Labour prime minister.”
Nicola Sturgeon immediately tweeted that “staying neutral on Brexit is a shameful abdication of leadership”.
Corbyn’s stance puts him at odds with BY TORCUIL CRICHTON members of the Shadow Cabinet including deputy leader Tom Watson, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, chief whip Nick Brown and Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry, and the majority of Labour members.
It also sets him on another collision course with Scottish leader Richard Leonard, who has said that in a second referendum, Scottish Labour would “campaign passionately for a Remain victory to secure jobs, living standards and our country’s future”.
Analysis by the left-wing Another Europe is Possible group revealed that 81 of the 90 conference motions sent in by constituency branches about Brexit urge Labour to back staying in the EU in a second referendum.
The group said the figure matches polling among Labour members “which shows that more than 90 per cent support Remain”.
Shadow minister Marsha de Cordova, who backs the group, said: “There is no middle ground when it comes to campaigning in an EU referendum. “We tried to fudge our line before and failed dramatically. Our members and activists won’t forgive us if we do that again. It’s time to take a side and expose Brexit as the completely destructive Tory project it is.” Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said: “Labour will never be a party for Remainers. The Liberal Democrats will continue to fight tooth and nail to stop Brexit.”