CORBYN’S BREXIT ANARCHY

Hours after party’s hint at a second poll, he says he’ll back May (if we stay in customs union)

JEREMY Corbyn delivered a Brexit ultimatum to Theresa May yesterday in his keynote party conference speech.

The Labour leader said he wanted to ‘reach out’ to Mrs May and offer her Labour’s support – provided she keeps Britain in a customs union with the EU after Brexit.

But Mr Corbyn, whose party is racked by divisions over Brexit, faced accusations of hypocrisy after he warned he would side with hardline Eurosceptics to defeat the Chequers deal unless she accepts his terms.

The gambit came as Mr Corbyn set out the most Left-wing agenda adopted by any major party in decades – and declared he was ready to be prime minister. He claimed Labour had ‘defined the new common sense’ and become ‘the new political mainstream’ with ‘an alternative to the politics of austerity, of social division and of international conflict’. In an hour-long speech, he:

Complained he had endured a ‘tough summer’ of criticism over his handling of the anti-Semitism crisis – but offered no apology to Britain’s Jews;

Defended Labour’s new plan to force firms to hand over 10 per cent of their dividends and shares to workers and the state, which critics say will lead to a collapse in investment;

Announced plans to extend free childcare for pre-school children;

Finally admitted that Russia was responsible for the Salisbury attack, after months of denial;

Taunted second home owners, saying they would be forced to contribute millions to a new ‘solidarity fund’ for those without a home;

Smiled as Labour activists booed Tory plans to cut corporation tax;

Launched a bitter attack on Britain’s free Press for its scrutiny of him and his policies;

Confirmed plans for a ‘ green jobs revolution’ that will clear the way for the erection of another 20,000 wind turbines in the UK.

Attacked Israel and Saudi Arabia, and said Labour’s first act would be the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

Labour’s conference has been marred by divisions over Brexit, with Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer squabbling publicly over whether the party should keep alive the option of staying in the EU in a second referendum.

Mr Corbyn, a lifelong Eurosceptic, made no mention of a second referendum. Instead, he spread more confusion about the party’s stance. On Tuesday, Sir Keir said Labour would oppose any deal Mrs May brings back from Brussels.

But yesterday, Mr Corbyn appeared to abandon the ‘six tests’ set by Sir Keir as the benchmark for any deal.

Instead, he said he was prepared to back Mrs May if she signs up to a customs union and pledges not to use Brexit to lower standards and workers’ rights in the UK.

He mocked Eurosceptic Tories, saying they ‘unite the politics of the 1950s with the economics of the 19th Century’. However, he said Labour would vote with them in the Commons to defeat the Chequers deal unless Mrs May backs down.

‘As it stands, Labour will vote against the Chequers plan or whatever is left of it and oppose leaving the EU with no deal,’ he said, adding that it would be ‘a piece of cake’ for Labour to negotiate a deal with Brussels.

In a direct message to Mrs May, he said: ‘ If you deliver a deal that includes a customs union and no hard border in Ireland, if you protect jobs, people’s rights at work and environmental and consumer standards – then we will support that sensible deal.’

The move is designed to reassure Labour’s Brexit supporters that the party has not betrayed them, despite opening the door this week to a second referendum.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith last night said it was a cynical move that could never be accepted by Mrs May. Mr Duncan Smith said: ‘This is … designed to confuse people into thinking Labour supports Brexit. He knows very well she is not going to sign up to the customs union.’

The customs union allows EU nations to trade with each other without tariffs on goods – and to impose common tariffs on those from countries outside their union.

Mr Corbyn said he would demand a general election if the Brexit talks collapse, calling the idea of a no deal exit ‘inconceivable’.

To terrace-style chants of ‘Oh, Jeremy Corbyn’, he said he would deliver ‘a real alternative … a radical plan to rebuild and transform our country.’

He denounced what he called ‘greedis-good capitalism’, which led to the financial crash of 2008.

Mr Corbyn described privatisation as a ‘disaster zone’ and said cuts to local government amounted to ‘social vandalism’. But he made no mention of the crippling deficit left behind by the last Labour government.

Today Mr Corbyn will travel to Brussels for talks with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn has shown at every turn he is unfit to govern.

‘All he offers are failed ideas that didn’t work in the past and would leave working families paying the price with higher taxes, more debt and more waste – just like last time.’

‘Designed to confuse people’