Brexit does not spell doom, says Corbyn
UK LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn will today insist leaving the EU does not “inevitably spell doom for our country” as he sets out Labour’s policy on Brexit.
The party’s decision to back continued membership of a customs union with the EU has intensified pressure on Theresa May. Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement on the issue yesterday has fuelled speculation that Labour will back cross-party amendments to keep the UK in a customs union and inflict a major defeat on the Conservatives.
The PM was reportedly warned last week that the Government could collapse if pro-EU Conservative MPs join forces with Labour.
Labour’s policy announcement came on the heels of a call backed by leading Welsh figures including Lord Kinnock, MPs, AMs and council leaders for the UK to remain in the European Economic Area.
LABOUR will back Britain’s continued membership in a customs union with the EU, Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer has announced.
His commitment comes on the heels of a warning by some of the biggest beasts in Welsh Labour that it will not be possible to deliver anti-austerity funding in public services if the UK leaves the European Economic Area.
UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is expected to deliver a major speech on the party’s Brexit policy today.
Welsh Labour figures including Lord Kinnock, MPs, AMs and council leaders, joined forces with counterparts from across the country to press for Labour to “take all necessary steps to ensure the UK permanently participates in a customs union on the same terms as we do now”.
They add that Labour’s “commitment to social justice dictates that we should also seek to participate in – not simply have ‘access’ to – the EU’s single market”
Arguing that the single market “protects people from the worst excesses of globalisation and unfettered capitalism,” they write:
“Indeed, if we want to be able to fund our anti-austerity investment programme we can’t afford the multibillion pound hit to the public finances that leaving the single market would entail...
“So – as a minimum – Labour must clearly and unambiguously set as a negotiating objective the goal of remaining part of the European Economic Area, in order to participate on a perma- nent basis in the single market.”
Sir Keir signalled in his interview with Andrew Marr that the Labour policy will involve the UK negotiating a new treaty.
He said: “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.”
Prior to Sir Keir’s comments, First Minister Carwyn Jones gave his backing to a “stronger” stance on the UK remaining part of the EU customs union.
He told us: “I’ve been a strong advocate of staying within the customs union. I just can’t see the benefits of being outside.
“If there was a better alternative, then fine, but I just don’t see it, so I do hope that we can be stronger in terms of what we’re saying about staying within the customs union. You can leave the EU but still be in the customs union.
“If we look close to home, for example, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are not in the EU but they are in the customs union. So it is possible to be part of that customs union and yet still fulfil the result of the referendum last year.”
Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Edwards was unimpressed by Labour’s comments, arguing the party was trying to force another election.
He said: “Labour’s repositioning on Brexit has nothing to do with creating a coherent negotiating position, it’s about creating the space to enable them to vote down the final deal no matter what it is and appeal to both sides of the debate.
“In other words it’s got nothing to do with principle; it’s about forcing another election. They have little concern for people’s jobs and wages.”
However Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said her party will use a vote in the Assembly this week to win a majority for remaining in the EU customs union.
She said: “There is an important distinction between ‘the customs union’ and ‘a customs union’. Plaid Cymru favours the former, as it would offer maximum protection for the Welsh economy...
“On Wednesday Plaid Cymru will lead a debate in the Senedd to put this case to the vote. It’s vital that Wales’ hand is strengthened in any Brexit negotiations – we cannot do this without more leverage.”
The Welsh Labour signatories to the statement calling for the UK to remain in the European Economic Area are: Lord Neil Kinnock, former leader the Labour Party; Chris Bryant MP, former Shadow Leader of the House; Cardiff South and Penarth MP Stephen Doughty; Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock; Bridgend MP Madeleine Moon; Torfaen AM Lynne Neagle; Cynon Valley AM Vikki Howells; Vale of Glamorgan AM Jane Hutt; Aberavon AM David Rees; Mid and West Wales AM Joyce Watson; Swansea East AM Mike Hedges; Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney AM Dawn Bowden; Cardiff council leader Huw Thomas; Newport council leader Debbie Wilcox; Caerphilly council leader David Poole; Neath Port Talbot deputy council leader Anthony Taylor; Pontypridd town
council leader Simon Pritchard.
Theresa May was reportedly warned during talks at Chequers on Thursday that the Government could collapse if Europhile Conservative MPs join forces with Labour.
Leading Tory rebel Anna Soubry has warned she has cross-party support for a new amendment to the Government’s trade bill that would mandate the UK to form a customs union with Brussels after Brexit.
The former minister indicated she was ready to pull back if the Prime Minister announces measures that would amount to a customs agreement when she makes a speech on Brexit on Friday.
Ms Soubry told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: “I’m told, and I’ve read in newspapers, that I won’t need to put my amendment or any other amendments to the vote because Theresa’s going to say sufficient to avoid that.
“It’s absolutely beholden now on the Government to get itself in the right place. I’m not quite sure it’s got there, but let’s wait and see where we are on Friday because if they have gone into the right place we can get on with it.”
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox urged Tory Remainers to keep an “open mind” and suggested the Brexit “war cabinet” on Thursday has agreed proposals that would deal with their fears.
He told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “I would say to my colleagues that Theresa May has kept a broad range of views on the European issue for a reason.
“We sat down with those differing views, we set out the issues, we looked at the options and we came to an agreement that we are all happy with.”
He added: “I hope that they will have an open mind and listen to what the Prime Minister says because I think that what the Prime Minister will set out will deal with a lot of the reservations that they have.”
Asked if legislation was being delayed because the Government would lose, he replied: “We want to persuade our colleagues of the merits of our argument before we take the bill forward.”
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith warned potential rebels against challenging the Government.
He told BBC One’s Sunday Politics: “I say to my colleagues, who might want to change some of this, just be very careful on this one because you’re being invited into a Labour party tactical game which will actually end up in real damage to the UK.”
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson said the party had not made a decision on how it would vote if a Tory rebel amendment on a customs union is put to the Commons.
“Obviously, their position is very close to Labour’s position,” he told ITV’s Peston On Sunday.
“I hope we can get to a point where the Government listen to us, they understand it is reckless to rule out any form of customs union.”
Mrs May has insisted Brexit is the beginning of a “bright new chapter” for Britain and the country’s best days “really do lie ahead of us”.
The Prime Minister will hold a special Cabinet meeting on Thursday ahead of her keynote speech on Britain’s exit from the European Union in the North East the day after.
She said the decisions taken now will “shape this country for a generation”.