Jeremy Corbyn reveals Brexit compromise policy in bid to head off row
The Labour leader pledges to carry out whatever voters decide in a second referendum if he becomes prime minister.
Tuesday 17 September 2019 22:55, UK
Jeremy Corbyn has attempted to head off a bitter Brexit row at Labour's conference in Brighton this weekend by spelling out a compromise policy which he hopes his party will support.
Under huge pressure from MPs and activists to endorse a strongly pro-Remain policy, he has pledged to carry out whatever voters decide in a second referendum if he becomes prime minister.
But his promise falls well short of demands from leading party figures including John McDonnell, Tom Watson and Emily Thornberry, who are calling for Labour to campaign for Remain in an EU poll.
The Labour leader's critics in his party are likely to accuse him of yet another Brexit fudge, while top Tories are already accusing him of wanting to ignore the vote in the 2016 EU referendum and cancel its result.
Writing in The Guardian, Mr Corbyn suggests he would stay out of campaigning in a second referendum on a Labour-negotiated Brexit deal, acting as a neutral referee vowing to carry out whatever the public decides.
This strategy would copy that of Labour prime minister Harold Wilson in the 1975 referendum on Common Market membership and avoid the fate of David Cameron in 2016, when he resigned after a humiliating defeat for 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," Mr Corbyn writes.
"We would then put that to a public vote alongside remain, and I pledge to carry out whatever the people decide, as a Labour prime minister.
"We would then put that to a public vote against remain, and I pledge to carry out whatever the people decide, as a Labour prime minister."
After the Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson committed her party to revoke Article 50 this week, Mr Corbyn says Labour is "the only UK-wide party ready to put our trust in the people of Britain to make the decision".
He writes: "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.
"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."
In his article, the Labour leader also confirms that he will back a general election as soon as Boris Johnson's threat of a no-deal Brexit is avoided through an extension to Article 50.
But his proposal to negotiate a Brexit deal as PM and then put it to a referendum means Labour delegates may be forced to vote on whether to back his stance or a much more pro-Remain policy.
Moves to change Labour's Brexit position will start on Saturday in Brighton, when delegates will discuss 80 motions submitted by local parties in favour of campaigning to remain in the EU in a second referendum.
After a complex process known as "compositing", which last year lasted several hours over two days, one or two motions will emerge to be voted on by the conference later in the week.
This may end up as a battle between largely Remain-supporting party activists and the big trade unions - such as Unite, led by Corbyn cheerleader Len McCluskey - who favour the Labour leader's position, unless a deal to avoid a public row can be stitched up.
Last week, Mr Watson, the party's deputy leader, proposed that Labour should "unambiguously and unequivocally back Remain" and back a second Brexit referendum before a general election, but he was immediately slapped down by Mr Corbyn.
Responding to Mr Corbyn's Guardian article, Tory chairman James Cleverly MP said: "Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party want to ignore the largest democratic vote in our country's history and cancel the referendum result.
"They had the chance to let the public decide how to resolve Brexit via a general election - but Jeremy Corbyn doesn't trust the people.
"His Surrender Act means more dither and pointless delay, costing us £250m a week - money which we would rather spend on the people's priorities.
"Only Boris Johnson and the Conservatives will ensure we have left the EU by 31 October, whatever the circumstances."