Leonard: I would prefer a Labour Brexit but would back Remain in poll
RICHARD Leonard has said he would prefer a Labour Brexit to a second referendum with Remain on the ballot, despite 62 per cent of Scots voting to stay in the EU.
The Scottish Labour leader said if it came to a vote, he would support Remain.
The SNP said the remark would “utterly dismay” many Labour supporters, while Labour MP Ian Murray also criticised Mr Leonard, saying his position would disappoint party members as there was “no good Brexit”.
Mr Leonard suggested that if Brexit was delayed, it ought to be for longer than the two months posited by Number 10, even if that meant fighting the next European elections.
The ardent Corbyn-supporter was speaking after Labour MSPS discussed the latest developments on Brexit at their weekly meeting at Holyrood today.
He said that if Labour could not amend Theresa May’s deal as it wished, the party would back a second vote offering a choice between Remain and a “credible Leave option”.
He said Leave options might include no-deal, Mrs May’s deal or a variant of her deal.
He said Labour wanted a Brexit with a permanent customs union, close alignment with the single market, access to EU agencies and funding, security cooperation, and guarantees on workers’ rights, consumer protection and the environment.
Asked whether his preference was for that deal or a referendum, he said: “For that deal.”
Scots voted 62-38 against Brexit in 2016, and polls show similar numbers of Scots continue to oppose it.
Asked why he was setting himself against the majority of Scottish voters, Mr Leonard said: “Well, because the referendum on the EU in the end was a Uk-wide franchise, and that was the outcome of the people who took part.”
Mr Leonard acknowledged Nationalists would use a second EU referendum to call for a second independence vote.
Mr Murray, MP for Edinburgh South, who has campaigned for a People’s Vote, said: “These comments will disappoint many Scottish Labour members.
“There is no good Brexit, no jobs-first Brexit, and no better Labour Brexit.”
And SNP MSP George Adam said: “Richard Leonard has today confirmed that Scottish Labour is pro-brexit – something that will utterly dismay many of its own supporters.
“The clock is ticking on Brexit and we desperately need parties to work together against Theresa May’s bad deal and against no deal.”