Stop the Brexit fighting, urges Corbyn

JEREMY CORBYN has urged the Cabinet to “stop fighting” and spell out what it wants from Brexit.

The Labour leader spoke after Brexit Secretary David Davis dismissed suggestions Britain was heading for a ‘Max Mad-style’ dystopia after leaving the European Union and committed to maintaining high regulatory standards.

Responding at the EEF manufacturers’ conference, Mr Corbyn said: “We are leaving the EU, but our businesses must not be forced to withdraw from European markets.

“Business needs clarity and with four out of six of the Government’s ‘Road to Brexit’ speeches already delivered, it seems to me their approach to Brexit is, if anything, less clear.

“It’s time for the Cabinet to stop fighting and the Government to say where it wants to take the country.”

Open Britain supporter and Labour MP Wes Streeting said the Government’s “real agenda” was lower standards, weaker protections and “a desperate scramble for free trade agreements” with the likes of US President Donald Trump.

He went on: “Would you trust the likes of Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and Jacob Rees-Mogg to protect rights at work, environmental standards and restrictions on bankers’ bonuses, after their false promises on £350m extra a week for the NHS? That is what David Davis is asking the public, and the EU, to do.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “David Davis lacks a plan to deliver a ‘race to the top’. And many of his Conservative colleagues say that they want ‘Mad Max’ cuts to workers’ rights and consumer standards.

“To prove his intentions, the Brexit Secretary should keep staying in the single market on the negotiating table. Of all the current options, it’s the best platform for a race to the top, and the best protection against a race to the bottom.”