Corbyn ‘betraying his principles’ with customs union plan
Eurosceptic Labour MP accuses leader of ‘ratting on’ party’s Leave voters wth Brexit proposals
JEREMY CORBYN will be “ratting on” Labour Leave voters and going against his own principles by tying Britain to the customs union after Brexit, a senior Labour MP has said.
Frank Field, a Eurosceptic Labour MP, said that he would be “surprised and disappointed” if Mr Corbyn announced plans to keep Britain in a customs union after Brexit.
He said it would be “betraying” the Labour supporters who voted to leave the European Union.
He told The Daily Telegraph: “Jeremy is more critical of the EU than I have ever been. We have been through every lobby together on the EU. I cannot believe his heart is going to be in staying in the Customs union.
“He thinks the EU is a capitalist conspiracy to exploit the working class. Membership of the customs union would be anathema to the Jeremy I know.”
It comes amid concerns that Mr Corbyn, who was renowned as a Eurosceptic before becoming Labour leader, has been persuaded by Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, to keep Britain aligned as closely as possible with the EU.
He said: “I would be very surprised and disappointed if Jeremy swallowed this line that you can stay in a customs union and that Labour supporters won’t realise what he has done, which is renege on the referendum vote.
“It’s the latest wheeze by the welloiled machine in this country to undo the referendum. It would be a betrayal of the Brexit vote, it would be ratting on Labour voters who backed Leave. People will be in revolt.”
Mr Corbyn previously had a reputation as a hardened Eurosceptic. He voted against membership of the European Economic Community in 1975, against the Maastricht treaty in 1993 and the Lisbon treaty in 2009.
In the run-up to the EU referendum he said that he had not “closed his mind” to Brexit, although he has subsequently said that he voted to keep Britain in the EU.
Some Labour MPS believe that Mr Corbyn is being “bounced” into saying that Britain should stay in the customs union.
On Friday Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, said that Labour wants “a customs union that will pretty much look like the current customs union”.
Sir Keir yesterday said that Britain will be unable to sign trade agreements without the EU’S support as he committed the party to a customs union.
He said that it would be “better” to reach new trade agreements by working with the EU after Brexit rather than independently.
“Obviously it’s the only way to realistically get tariff-free access, it’s really important for our manufacturing base and nobody can answer the question how you keep your commitment to no hard border in Northern Ireland without a customs union.
“The customs arrangements at the moment are hard-wired into the membership treaty so I think everybody now recognises there’s going to have to be a new treaty – it will do the work of the customs union.
“It’s a customs union, that’s what the CBI are saying now, it’s what the various amendments are now all saying – there’s going to have to be a new agreement, but will it do the work of the current Customs union? Yes, that’s the intention.”
Formulating a Brexit strategy that is acceptable to both Labour voters and party members will be difficult for Mr Corbyn.
Many of Labour’s traditional heartlands overwhelmingly backed Brexit at the EU referendum.
For example, in Sunderland 61 per cent voted Leave while 39 per cent voted to Remain.
But a survey of Labour members published in January this year revealed that 78per cent of the party’s rank and file want a second referendum while almost nine in 10 want a soft Brexit.