Corbyn’s Brexit plan
Having his cake and eating it?
Jeremy Corbyn intensified the pressure on Theresa May this week by coming out in favour of the UK remaining in a customs union with the EU after Brexit. In a speech welcomed by the CBI business lobby, the Labour leader said the move would avoid the need for a “hard border” in Northern Ireland and ensure freeflowing trade. Although a customs union would constrain the UK’S ability to strike independent trade deals, Corbyn said the UK could work “jointly” with the EU to strike deals with other nations. He rejected calls from some Labour backbenchers to commit to staying in the EU single market as well, saying instead that he wanted a “close relationship” with it.
May has ruled out the UK remaining in either the single market or a customs union. At a meeting at Chequers last week, May and her senior colleagues agreed to a plan for an “ambitious managed divergence”, under which Britain would agree to remain fully aligned with EU standards in some areas in return for market access, but would chart its own course in others. The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, described the plan as “pure illusion”.
What the editorials said
Corbyn’s speech marks a “milestone” in the Brexit process, said The Guardian. By coming out in favour of a customs union, he has established Labour as “a party of sensible thought” in this debate. Tory Brexiteers think new trade deals with the likes of China and the US will compensate for disrupting our trade with the EU, but that’s a “fallacy built on the idea that the UK could undercut and deregulate its way to growth. Labour recognises this is neither possible nor desirable.” Corbyn’s shift away from his policy of “constructive ambiguity” on Brexit could serve the nation well, said the FT. At some point in the next few months, the Commons will vote on an amendment to the Trade Bill that would oblige the UK to pursue a customs union. If May “does not change tack”, Tory rebels should vote with Labour to pass the amendment. Corbyn has no interest in engineering a “soft” Brexit, said the Daily Mail. His “screeching U-turn” this week is just a cynical attempt by this “lifelong Eurosceptic” to bring down the Government. It’s a betrayal of his principles and of the wishes of the millions of Labour supporters who voted for Brexit. If rebel Tories lend him their support, and end up putting a hard-left government in power, they’ll “never be forgiven”.