Monday, September 23, 2019
Corbyn steers Labour towards a leave position
Welsh Labour may be attempting to turn back the tide with their 'campaign for remain at any cost' stance but the reality is that this is not a devolved matter and that when it comes to any future determination of our EU membership by a Labour Government, it will be Jeremy Corbyn and his team who will call all the shots, not Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford.
And as far as Corbyn and the UK Labour Party are concerned the fence sitting continues, or does it? As the Guardian reports, Corbyn himself appears to be shifting his public stance towards the leave position we have always known him to believe privately.
In an appearance on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show before a contentious debate on Brexit at the party’s conference in Brighton, the Labour leader suggested that a Labour government could negotiate an exit deal that would be preferable to EU membership – and that he will reserve judgment until those negotiations are complete, effectively placing him in the leave camp:
He said: “We have consistently put forward what I believe to be a credible option, which is based on five pillars – the customs union, the trade relationship, protection of consumer and environmental rights, and of course the Good Friday agreement.”
If the EU27 agree to those demands, he said, “that would be a credible offer to put before the British people”.
What is laughable about Corbyn's position is that his five pillars are realistically only available to the UK if we stay within the European Union. Remain is the best deal available to us, and yet Corbyn is still seriously playing with the idea of the UK leaving. Good luck to Welsh Labour in trying to explain that on the doorstep.
And as far as Corbyn and the UK Labour Party are concerned the fence sitting continues, or does it? As the Guardian reports, Corbyn himself appears to be shifting his public stance towards the leave position we have always known him to believe privately.
In an appearance on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show before a contentious debate on Brexit at the party’s conference in Brighton, the Labour leader suggested that a Labour government could negotiate an exit deal that would be preferable to EU membership – and that he will reserve judgment until those negotiations are complete, effectively placing him in the leave camp:
He said: “We have consistently put forward what I believe to be a credible option, which is based on five pillars – the customs union, the trade relationship, protection of consumer and environmental rights, and of course the Good Friday agreement.”
If the EU27 agree to those demands, he said, “that would be a credible offer to put before the British people”.
What is laughable about Corbyn's position is that his five pillars are realistically only available to the UK if we stay within the European Union. Remain is the best deal available to us, and yet Corbyn is still seriously playing with the idea of the UK leaving. Good luck to Welsh Labour in trying to explain that on the doorstep.
