Brexit U-turn ‘catastrophic’ for Labour in the Midlands and the North
Backbenchers round on Corbyn as he tries to defend his support for so-called people’s vote
JEREMY CORBYN has been warned that the party risks catastrophic damage by backing a second referendum as in-fighting broke out over Labour’s U-turn on Brexit.
Backbenchers rounded on Mr Corbyn yesterday as he tried to defend his support for a so-called people’s vote.
It came amid suggestions the Labour leader, a veteran Eurosceptic, had caved into demands from staunch Remainer Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, in defiance of some of his closest aides, including Seumas Milne, his communications chief.
Former minister Caroline Flint called on Labour to honour “the decision to leave that has been made by the British people”. The MP for Don Valley said: “We said in the chapter of our manifesto we are here to negotiate Brexit, not stop it.” She added that in her 22 years as MP constituents had never “looked to the EU for supplying the answers” to tackling injustices. “A Labour government provides those answers”.
Speaking after Mr Corbyn said he would put forward or support an amendment in favour of a public vote, Ms Flint said the Prime Minister “needs to show compromise, but so does everybody else in this House”.
It came after Labour MP John Mann said the move would be “catastrophic for Labour in the Midlands and the North”. The Bassetlaw MP, who voted to leave the EU, told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “Voters won’t have it. The last person to renege on their manifesto was Nick Clegg. It didn’t end very well for him on tuition fees.
“Our manifesto was unambiguous – we would accept the result of the referendum. A second referendum doesn’t do that and the voters – in very, very large numbers – will not accept that.”
Stoke Central MP Gareth Snell suggested Sir Keir had engineered the shift in the party’s stance. “If I was being a bit unkind, part of me thinks this has been what Keir wanted all along, to move the Labour Party to a point of so much confusion this seems to be the only way forward,” he told the BBC. He later said in the Commons: “I will not, shall not and cannot vote for a second referendum, regardless of how much lipstick is put on it and what it’s called.”
Meanwhile, shadow Cabinet ministers defended the policy amid suggestions senior party sources were briefing against them. It came as a Labour insider revealed Mr Corbyn’s U-turn was at odds with Mr Milne’s advice and that of Andrew Murray, Mr Corbyn’s adviser, and office manager Karie Murphy. Sir Keir told Today that “elected politicians” – rather than aides – set out the Labour position.
And Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, hit back at a briefing suggesting that she had “misspoken” in backing a people’s vote.
“Pretty hard to misspeak identically in 10 interviews, but for clarity: if Theresa May won’t accept our deal, then the public must decide: do we accept whatever deal she gets through, or do we Remain? Got it?” Tom Watson, the party’s deputy leader, said: “Whoever briefed that my colleague ‘misspoke’ undermines the sovereignty of the current shadow cabinet.”
A Labour source suggested the shadow Brexit secretary had “exploited” the Labour leader’s “vulnerability” over the anti-semitism row that had engulfed the party – influencing the resignations last week of nine Labour MPS.
“More MPS threatening to leave gave Keir the ammo to twist Jeremy’s arm,” said the source. “There is major tension in the leader’s office.”
Another insider claimed that Mr Corbyn had been “questioning the wisdom” of Mr Milne’s Brexit strategy since Christmas.
“The advice he’s been getting from Seumas has been not to do anything and leave it to the Tories to f--- Brexit up, arguing that through all the chaos and confusion comes socialism on a white charger.
“But John Mcdonnell has always been a lot more pragmatic. He’s been pushing Jeremy to back a second referendum for weeks. What’s happened was inevitable.”