Corbyn rules out second referendum on Brexit deal
Jeremy Corbyn has ruled out backing a second referendum on the final Brexit deal after suggestions Labour could include the policy in their General Election manifesto.
A spokesman for the Labour leader said: “A second referendum is not our policy and it won’t be in our manifesto.”
It comes after shadow chancellor John McDonnell said on Wednesday that the government should “put the deal to Parliament and possibly to the country overall” and Mr Corbyn dodged a question on the issue in his first keynote speech of the campaign.
Labour was reportedly considering calling for a second referendum to win over Remain voters who may be tempted to switch to the Liberal Democrats, who have promised a national poll on the final UK-EU deal.
Mr Corbyn is due to visit the Cardiff North constituency today.
He is expected to say: “We’re taking the fight to every part of the country to win this general election.
“We’re fighting in Wales to give everyone a better standard of living, to build on the excellent record of Welsh Labour in power here in the National Assembly of Wales.
“We want a Labour MP for Cardiff North and a Labour government for the whole country.”
Following his first major election speech yesterday morning, Mr Corbyn was asked whether he was considering or would rule out a second referendum on any agreement reached after withdrawal negotiations with the EU.
But he appeared to dodge the question, replying: “The European Union negotiations are going on and we set out our (red) lines on the negotiation.
“Primarily, it’s about getting and retaining tariff-free access to the European market.
“We haven’t threatened to turn Britain into an offshore tax haven on the shores of Europe, undermining the European economy.”
Instead, Labour wants a “good process by which we continue to trade with Europe”.
He added: “Walking away and trading under World Trade Organisation conditions will mean the manufacturing industry in this country would be severely damaged.”
After the speech, a spokeswoman for the leader said Labour’s position, backing a “meaningful vote” in Parliament, had not changed but did not explicitly rule out a second referendum.
Conservative Party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin then seized on the comments, insisting Mr Corbyn was sowing “chaos” which would “disrupt our Brexit negotiations”.
But Mr Corbyn has now ruled out a second vote.
In his speech, Mr Corbyn promised to put wealth “in the hands of the people of Britain” as he turned his fire on big business and the rich.
The Labour leader cast the June 8 poll as a battle of “the Establishment versus the people”, as he promised to overturn a “rigged system” which allowed the rich and powerful to extract wealth from the nation.
A “morally bankrupt” Conservative Party was intent on preserving the system while cutting public services and blaming migrants and the unemployed for the woes of the economy, he said.
Controversial business figures like Mike Ashley, of Sports Direct, Sir Philip Green, Southern Rail, and taxavoiding multinationals should be “worried” about the prospect of a Labour government, said Mr Corbyn.
“Those are the people who are monopolising the wealth that should be shared by each and every one of us in this country,” he said.
“It is wealth that should belong to the majority and not a tiny minority.”
He vowed: “We will no longer allow those at the top to leech off of those who bust their guts on zero-hours contracts or those forced to make sacrifices to pay their mortgage or their rent.
“Instead of the country’s wealth being hidden in tax havens, we will put it in the hands of the people of Britain, as they are the ones who earned it.”
Mr Corbyn’s speech came amid speculation about Labour’s taxation plans, after Mr McDonnell suggested the wealthy, who he defined as earning over £70,000 a year, should “pay
their way more”.
But shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry played down suggestions new taxes might be introduced at this level, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she understood why “many people” on this salary might feel they are “not rich”.
Labour is “prepared to make radical change” and stand up to the elites, but this did not mean “picking off people of particular incomes”, she said.
Mr Corbyn promised he would not “play by the rules” if he won the election, but would take on the “cosy cartels that are hoarding this country’s wealth for themselves”.
Despite a new opinion poll putting Labour as many as 24 points behind the Tories, he insisted the election result was not a “foregone conclusion”, declaring: “Things can, and they will, change.”
Answering questions, Mr Corbyn said Labour’s manifesto would be “fully costed and will be all accounted for and paid for”.