Brexit news: Corbyn resists pressure to campaign for second referendum

Irish taoiseach told him that the chances of a further extension to the Article 50 Brexit process were ‘slim’

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has resisted pressure from shadow cabinet colleagues to start campaigning for a Final Say vote on Brexit, insisting that he still wants to negotiate a better EU withdrawal deal.

Speaking during a visit to Dublin for talks with Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach, Mr Corbyn said that Labour did not back a “rerun” of the 2016 referendum and any public vote was “some way off”.

Mr Varadkar told him that the chances of an extension to the UK’s Brexit negotiation period beyond the latest deadline of 31 October were “slim” and that there would be no reopening of the Withdrawal Agreement reached with Theresa May in November.

Labour supporters of a second referendum, including Mr Corbyn’s deputy Tom Watson, had hoped the leader was inching towards accepting a shift of policy, after a series of comments suggesting he was ready to support a public vote on any Brexit deal.

But Corbyn made clear that he remains wedded to the priority of negotiating a “jobs-first Brexit” with Brussels, featuring a customs union with a UK say on trade deals and matched protections for workers’ rights and the environment.

Setting out his approach to Brexit negotiations, he said: “I would go back to the EU, explain that we had fought an election campaign in order to make sure there was a good relationship with Europe in the future, that we weren’t afraid of public opinion on this, and ask them to seriously consider what we are suggesting, which is a customs union with a British say and trade relationship with Europe, and a dynamic relationship on rights would not be undermining Europe on workers’ rights, on consumer rights, on environmental protections.”

He added: “We don’t back a rerun of 2016. That happened. That is gone.

“What I do say is that if parliament comes to an agreement, then it’s reasonable – if parliament wishes it – there should be a public vote on it but that is some way off.”

(AP (AP)

Mr Corbyn made clear he backs a general election or second referendum if a new Conservative prime minister seeks to take the UK out of the EU without a deal.

“Faced with the threat of no deal and a prime minister with no mandate, the only way out of the Brexit crisis ripping our country apart is now to go back to the people,” he said.

“Let the people decide the country’s future, either in a general election or through a public vote on any deal agreed by parliament.”

Rachael Maskell, a Labour MP and a supporter of the Best for Britain campaign for a second referendum, said: “My party must unambiguously and proudly state that we believe the best way forward for our country is to go back to the people and give them the Final Say on Brexit, in all circumstances.

“Last week’s elections showed the country has changed its mind on this issue, so it’s only right we give the people their say.”

After the meeting, Mr Varadkar told an Irish parliamentary committee: “I very much imparted that message as politely that I could that the chances of a further extension are pretty slim and the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Irish protocol and the backstop, is closed from our point of view.”

He said there was “a hardening view across the European Union” that there could be no further rolling extensions of the Article 50 Brexit process, though he said one might be possible to allow time for an election or a second referendum.

“I don’t think it’s viable to believe that there would be sufficient support or unanimous support ... for a further extension while the UK continues to figure it out or for another set of indicative votes,” he said.

The taoiseach said the “only way” that the Withdrawal Agreement could change would be if there was a “fundamental change in red lines from the next UK prime minister or the next UK government” such as a decision to stay in the customs union or the single market.