Only Labour will give the people a final say on Brexit
Boris Johnson and the Conservatives are threatening to drive our country over a no-deal cliff edge in six weeks’ time. He has no mandate for that and is opposed by a majority of the public. Since he became prime minister in July, Johnson has been defeated on every vote he has put to parliament. Now his undemocratic manoeuvrings and his decision to close down parliament and avoid accountability are being challenged in the supreme court. Johnson’s visit to Luxembourg on Monday was a further humiliation. The prime minister went to Europe with no plan and no proposals, and did his best to hide from scrutiny while he was there.
Three years ago Johnson backed Brexit because he thought it would boost his political career – writing one article in favour of remain and another backing leave. Now he’s backing no deal because he thinks it’s politically expedient – to win back votes from the Brexit party and keep his Tory Brexit ultras on board. At the same time he needs to look like he’s trying for a deal to hold his cabinet and parliamentary party together.
There is nothing new in Johnson’s shenanigans. Theresa May signed up to contradictory red lines on Brexit to keep the Conservatives from falling apart, and David Cameron called the referendum in the first place to see off the threat from Ukip.
The Brexit saga of the past few years has been a litany of Tory failures, as one Conservative prime minister after another has put their own and their party’s interests before the interests of the people and our country. Now we face crashing out of the EU next month without a deal, just to save Johnson’s job. We know from Amber Rudd, who resigned from his cabinet this month, that there is little effort going into securing a deal with the EU – in fact it is hard to see any sign of real effort at all. That came after leaked reports that the prime minister’s negotiations are a “sham” and no deal is the real goal.
In the teeth of No 10 resistance, parliament secured the release of the confidential Yellowhammer papers, setting out the government’s preparations for no deal. The government’s own analysis found the UK would be at risk of food and medicine shortages, and face chaos at key ports. It also exposed that ministers had deliberately misled the public. They told us there would be no food or medicine shortages, when their own internal reports showed that there would be.
Yellowhammer has raised the stakes even higher. Johnson’s reckless no-deal Brexit would threaten jobs and living standards and increase food prices. And it would pave the way for a one-sided trade deal with Donald Trump that could only be negotiated from a position of weakness.
It would not be a no-deal Brexit, but a Trump-deal Brexit, with a race to the bottom in our rights and protections sold to US corporations.
Nor would no deal be a “clean break”, as some imagine. It would not mean we could “just get on with it”. In reality it would be the start of a whole new period of confusion and delay, as a string of new agreements would have to be hammered out with the EU – but this time against a backdrop of rising unemployment, deepening poverty, and entire industries moving offshore.
Labour will do everything necessary to stop a disastrous no deal, with all the chaos, disruption and job losses it would lead to – and the serious threat it would pose to the Northern Ireland peace process. That’s why we worked with other parties across parliament to pass a law to stop us crashing out at the end of next month.
But as soon as no deal is off the table, and the prime minister has complied with the law, we need a general election to get rid of Johnson’s Tory government. That election will be about much more than Brexit. It will be a choice between a Labour government that will put wealth and power in the hands of the many, and Johnson’s born-to-rule Conservatives who will look after the privileged few. It will be about who will truly end austerity and deliver the change Britain needs, invest in every region and nation of our country, and rebuild our public services, communities and industry.
The people of Britain deserve to have their say in a general election. Only a Labour government would end the Brexit crisis by taking the decision back to the people. We will give the people the final say on Brexit, with the choice of a credible leave offer and remain.
A Labour government would secure a sensible deal based on the terms we have long advocated, including a new customs union with the EU; a close single market relationship; and guarantees of workers’ rights and environmental protections. We would then put that to a public vote alongside remain. I will pledge to carry out whatever the people decide, as a Labour prime minister.
We are the only UK-wide party ready to put our trust in the people of Britain to make the decision. Johnson wants to crash out with no deal. That is something opposed by business, industry, the trade unions and most of the public – and even by the Vote Leave campaign’s co-convener Michael Gove, who said earlier this year: “We didn’t vote to leave without a deal.”
And now the Liberal Democrats want MPs to overturn the referendum result by revoking article 50 in a parliamentary stitch-up. It is simply undemocratic to override the decision of a majority of the voters without going back to the people.
Labour is the only party determined to bring people together, and give the people the final say. Only a vote for Labour will deliver a public vote on Brexit. Only a Labour government will put the power back into the hands of the people. Let’s stop a no-deal Brexit – and let the people decide.
• Jeremy Corbyn is leader of the Labour party
We will give the people the final say, with the choice of a credible leave offer and remain