Corbyn’s Brexit ‘betrayal’: yes to customs union and EU workers
JEREMY CORBYN has ruled out trade deals with other countries after Brexit and admitted immigration could go up as he called for EU nationals to come back to the UK.
The Labour leader was accused of betraying Labour voters by backing a customs union deal in a bid to defeat Theresa May on a vote on the issue in the House of Commons.
Setting out his policy on Brexit in his first substantive speech on the issue since the referendum, Mr Corbyn also admitted that the UK could be left without a real say on trade deals struck by the EU even if the UK is allowed to negotiate a version of the customs union.
It led to warnings from both the Foreign Secretary and the International Trade Secretary that Labour would leave the UK “a colony” of Brussels, waving a “white flag” instead of forging ahead as an independent nation.
Boris Johnson said: “Crumbling Corbyn betrays Leave voters – and all because he wants to win a commons vote. Cynical and deluded.”
Mr Corbyn was speaking in Coventry, where he set out his plan to keep Britain inside a version of the customs union after Brexit in a bid to prevent a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. He said: “We have long argued that a customs union is a viable option for the final deal. So Labour would seek to negotiate a new comprehensive UK-EU customs union to ensure that there are no tariffs with Europe and to help avoid any need for a hard border in Northern Ireland.
“But we are also clear that the option of a new UK customs union with the EU would need to ensure the UK has a say in future trade deals.”
But pushed on what would happen if the EU refused to allow the UK a say on future deals it negotiated, an adviser for the Labour leader said there is no “Plan B”. Mr Corbyn later added that “the Plan B is to continue negotiating in order to get Plan A”.
Mr Johnson described Mr Corbyn’s position as a “betrayal” of the Brexit vote and an attempt to link up with Tory rebels to inflict a defeat on the Prime Minister in an forthcoming expected vote on a cross-party amendment calling for a customs union. But Mr Corbyn said his call was an “appeal to MPS of all parties” to “put the people’s interests before ideological fantasies” to protect jobs, living standards and the economy, and avoid a hard Irish border.
He also refused to commit to cutting migration to the UK, saying instead that Labour would not set numerical targets and instead focus on which sectors need staff. He said free movement would end as a “statement of fact” after Brexit and committed to the “reasonable management of migration”, adding: “Every industry needs workers.
“There is a skills shortage in Britain and our National Health Service is already suffering because large numbers of EU staff have gone home because they are frightened of the future in Britain. We want to turn that around. They are welcome to stay, welcome to work here and we need their skills and we need their dedication to public service. Under Labour we will make sure that happens.”
Jon Lansman, the Momentum boss, has thrown his hat in the ring to replace Iain Mcnicol, the former general secretary of the Labour Party. It came as it emerged last night that Len Mccluskey, the leader of Unite, has repaid more than £400,000 given to him by the union towards the purchase of a £700,000 London flat.