Corbyn fails to clear up second Brexit referendum confusion

● Party leader won’t say if he would campaign to remain in EU in second vote or who would negotiate ‘Labour Leave’ deal

Jeremy Corbyn has failed to clarify if he would campaign for a “Labour Leave” deal hammered out with the European Union or to remain in a second Brexit referendum.

The Labour leader said that if he became prime minister he would put “the choice to the British people”, after a Labour government negotiated a new deal with the EU within three months of taking power.

However, he refused to say whether in a second referendumhewouldbackhisneweu deal or campaign to Remain in the European Union.

He also suggested that he might take Leave-backing Labour MPS into negotiations with the EU rather than Remainers such as his Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer and Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry.

Mr Corbyn said: “I want a close relationship with the EU in the future and we will put that decision to the British people and I will abide by that decision. That’s the view we’ve come to in the Labour Party.”

He said a Labour Leave option would mean a trade relationship with Europe which would protect rights and the Good Friday Agreement. “That will be put alongside Remain in a referendum within six months – and my whole strategy has been to try and bring people together on both sides of the argument, because actually there’s a great deal that unites them about the inequalities and injustices in this country.”

Mr Corbyn, who was being interviewed by the BBC’S Andrew Marr yesterday, said:

“We have to have a close trading relationship with Europe. We won’t crash out into the arms of Donald Trump. We won’t be doing sweetheart trade deals with the USA and we won’t be wrecking our National Health Service in the process as the Prime Minister is planning to do.”

But when asked if he would take his chancellor, home secretary, foreign secretary and Brexit secretary into the negotiations – all of whom have said they would campaign for Remain – Mr Corbyn said: “There would obviously be a team of people who would be involved in this and they would be representative of all parts of the UK and of areas that have different views on it, as indeed when we had the talks with the UK government over the summer we did have a very wide range of voices meeting the government on this, and I think it’s very important that all parts of the country are represented in this and that’s what I would seek to do.”

He added: “They’ll all be Labour voices that would have fought the election on the basis of the agreement we hope to reach with the European Union and which we’d put to the people of this country, ‘cause I do think we’ve got to settle this and that we settle it by agreeing on a relationship with Europe either in or out.”

Mr Corbyn also refused to say what Labour’s policy on immigration would be in its general election manifesto. Its 2017 manifesto had said free movement of people would end when Britain leaves the EU but, at this year’s conference, party members voted through a commitment to retaining freedom of movement.

The Labour leader said people would have to “wait until Thursday” to see the wording of the manifesto, although the policy would have been approved at yesterday’s Clause 5 meeting which confirms Labour’s manifesto.

He said: “A lot of European nationals have made their homes in this country and made a massive contribution to our society. A lot of British people live in different parts of the European Union and many of those families have been through unbelievable levels of stress.

“So they absolutely must have the right to remain and be able to bring their families here.”

Mr Corbyn also ruled out holding another Scottish independence referendum before the Holyrood elections in 2021, despite SNP demands for a vote next year.

Asked if he would give a commitment for a Scottish independence referendum within the first year under a Labour Government, he said, “No”, and added: “What I want to do is win an election. What I want to do is start the process of reinvesting in this country, of bringing forward all the proposals that we’ve got for a national investment bank, regional investment banks in England and investment in Scotland which will get £70 billion of investment.

“I do not want us to spend the first year on an independence referendum.”

He repeated that he would not do deals with the SNP to get into government and said the SNP would have to back Labour or put Boris Johnson back into government.

“What I want to do is win an election. Idonotwantusto spend the first year on an independence referendum”

JEREMY CORBYN