Jeremy Corbyn was accused of a Brexit ‘betrayal’ last night as he prepared to set out plans that would keep Britain shackled to Brussels.
The Labour leader is expected to say he will sacrifice the ability to strike new trade deals in order to keep Britain locked in an EU customs union – and allow free movement to continue.
In his most significant Brexit speech since the referendum today, he will also call for a ‘close relationship’ with the single market, citing Norway and Switzerland as examples of the kind of deal he is seeking.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said Mr Corbyn ‘seems certain to break the commitments he made to Labour voters at the last election’.
Pro-Brexit Labour MPs warned their leader he risked betraying millions of party supporters who voted to take Britain out of the EU. Former minister Frank Field said keeping the country shackled to Brussels would be ‘to rat on the people’s decision to leave’.
The Labour leader is expected to say he will sacrifice the ability to strike new trade deals in order to keep Britain locked in an EU customs union – and allow free movement to continue
Kate Hoey, another former Labour minister, said: ‘I hope Jeremy realises that to divert from the recent manifesto would be a hammer blow to those Labour supporters all across the country who came back and voted for us precisely because of our unequivocal position on leaving the EU.’
Labour Eurosceptic Graham Stringer said it was vital to keep the party’s pledge to make a clean break with the EU, adding: ‘Anything less would be a betrayal.’
But pro-EU Labour MP Chuka Umunna welcomed what he called ‘a clear change of position’. In today’s speech in the West Midlands, Mr Corbyn is expected to:
- Confirm that Labour would keep Britain in the customs union after Brexit, closing the door on the dream of taking back control of Britain’s trade policy;
- Demand a ‘bespoke’ deal that would keep Britain in the single market in all but name, while demanding the right for a future Labour government to tear up EU competition rules to subsidise failing nationalised industries;
- Signal that Labour is ready to join forces with Tory Remainers over the customs union in the hope of forcing a Commons defeat that could topple Theresa May;
- Leave the door open to a second referendum on the final Brexit deal before the UK leaves;
- Accept free movement should continue with only minor curbs to stop firms exploiting ‘cheap agency labour’ from abroad.
The move comes barely six months after Mr Corbyn’s shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner warned that staying in a customs union after Brexit would be ‘a disaster’. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Gardiner had been ‘speaking very much for himself’, adding: ‘A lot of water’s gone under the bridge since then.’
Sir Keir said there had been ‘unanimous agreement’ in the shadow cabinet that Labour should switch to a policy of pursuing a customs union with the EU – opening up a clear divide with the Government.
He acknowledged the shift would make it impossible for the UK to pursue independent trade deals but claimed: ‘We’d be better off doing that with the EU.’
Labour sources suggested Mr Corbyn would take a ‘more nuanced’ position in his speech, but admitted it would include joining some sort of customs union.
He and shadow chancellor John McDonnell are lifelong Eurosceptics who have railed against the EU and its customs union for years. In 2005, Mr Corbyn said EU tariffs were destroying agriculture in the developing world, adding: ‘The practice is simply crazy and must be stopped.’
But he has come under intense pressure from Labour members and the unions to soften the party’s line on Brexit. Labour strategists also believe the shift could wreck Mrs May’s hopes of keeping the fragile Tory coalition on Brexit together.
Mr McDonnell is said to have told Labour’s top team that inflicting a Commons defeat on Mrs May over the customs union is the ‘best chance’ of an early election.
Sir Keir said: ‘The crunch time is now coming for the Prime Minister because the majority in Parliament does not back her approach to a customs union.’
Mr Corbyn will today pay lip service to the Brexit vote, saying: ‘We respect the result of the referendum.’ But he will add: ‘Every country that is geographically close to the EU without being an EU member state, whether it’s Turkey, Switzerland, or Norway, has some sort of close relationship to the EU, some more advantageous than others.
‘Britain will need a bespoke relationship of its own. Labour would negotiate a new and strong relationship with the single market that includes full tariff-free access and a floor under existing rights, standards and protections.’
Despite the EU insisting it will not accept ‘cherry picking’ of single market rules, the Labour leader will demand the right for the UK to tear up the EU’s state aid rules ‘to ensure we can deliver our ambitious economic programme’.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries warned Remainers in her own party not to fall into Mr Corbyn’s cynical trap. She said: ‘Millions of Labour voters took Corbyn at his word when he promised to respect the referendum result and help deliver Brexit.
‘Those same voters will punish him and any Tory Europhile rebels who are considering backing him.’
First Secretary of State David Lidington will today warn devolved governments not to use Brexit as an excuse to break up the UK. He will pledge to ensure most EU powers relating to devolved areas will be transferred to Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, rather than being hoarded by Westminster.
But Mr Lidington will warn the new powers must not be used to sever ties holding the UK together, warning this would make the whole country ‘weaker and poorer’.
Brexiteers get close to the PM at the Chequers Summit
