Corbyn ‘selling snake oil over Brexit’
Labour leader is breaching his manifesto by pledging to keep Britain in customs union, says David Davis
JEREMY CORBYN is selling “snake oil” over Brexit, David Davis warns today, as the Labour leader pledges to keep Britain tied to the EU indefinitely. Mr Corbyn is expected to use a major speech to announce that he wants to keep Britain in the customs union, which would mean that the UK could not sign its own trade deals with noneu countries after Brexit.
It comes amid a deep split within the Conservative Party over the issue after five pro-european Tory “mutineers” tabled an amendment that could force Theresa May into accepting a post-brexit customs union.
Labour yesterday indicated that it was prepared to back the amendment, meaning that the Government is facing the prospect of defeat in a significant threat to the Prime Minister’s leader- ship. Senior Eurosceptic Labour MPS yesterday accused Mr Corbyn of “ratting” on and “betraying” Labour supporters who voted Leave.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Davis says Labour’s position would represent two “serious breaches” of its manifesto and put jobs at risk by surrendering one of the “central prizes” of Brexit. He says: “Labour may think they have stumbled across a simple solution to Brexit, but there is a lesson they are yet to learn: if it looks like snake oil, and it smells like snake oil, don’t expect it to make you feel better.”
Last month, Mrs May ruled out staying in any form of customs union after a backlash from Tory Eurosceptics over the issue as she set out a clear “red line” over Brexit.
However, pro-european Tory MPS yesterday said they believed that Mrs May could be poised to back down over the issue in a major Brexit speech on Friday in which she will set out Britain’s future relationship with the EU. Conservative Eurosceptics yesterday warned that any concession over the customs union issue would provoke a significant backlash and leave the Prime Minister facing a potential leadership challenge.
One said: “They can’t keep us in the customs union by another name. It would be a hokey-cokey amendment, one foot in and one foot out. It would
be a complete sell-out. If she does this the letters will go in [to trigger a leadership contest].”
In his article, Mr Davis highlights internal divisions in Labour over the policy, which one member of the shadow cabinet previously said was “deeply unattractive” and would represent a “disaster” for Britain’s trade policy.
The Brexit Secretary says that Labour’s approach will make it “impossible” for the party to meet its manifesto pledge to develop “best-in-class” free trade deals. He also says that staying in a customs union will risk “jobs and livelihoods” by putting the UK in danger of state-sponsored trade dumping.
Mr Corbyn will today use a major speech in Coventry to insist that Brexit does not have to be a disaster as he commits Labour to pushing for a “new strong relationship” with the single market.
He will say existing single market rights, standards and protections would be accepted by Labour. But it
‘If it looks like snake oil, and it smells like snake oil, don’t expect it to make you feel better’
would negotiate protections and exemptions that could help workers and industry, such as changing state aid restrictions to allow governments to intervene to help struggling sectors.
“The European Union is not the root of all our problems and leaving it will not solve all our problems,” Mr Corbyn will say. “Likewise, the EU is not the source of all enlightenment and leaving it does not inevitably spell doom for our country.
“There will be some who will tell you that Brexit is a disaster for this country and some who will tell you that Brexit will create a land of milk and honey. The truth is more down-toearth and it’s in our hands: Brexit is what we make of it together.”
Labour denied that it was in breach of its manifesto, highlighting a pledge to “retain the benefits of the single market and customs union”.
Labour is planning to form “a” customs union after Brussels said the UK could not be part of “the” customs union after Brexit. However, it would still bind Britain to EU trade deals.