The government has expressed willingness to discuss Labour’s terms for backing Theresa May’s EU withdrawal bill, but Jeremy Corbyn’s offer of support for a softer Brexit has prompted fury among some Labour backbenchers.
David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister and de facto deputy prime minister, said he had not had any direct “overtures” from Labour about talks but added: “We should be talking to the official opposition and understand their point of view.”
In his letter to the prime minister, Corbyn calls for the government to rework the political declaration with the EU to offer five commitments including staying in a customs union, in part to avoid the need for a backstop over the Irish border. It also calls for a say on future EU trade deals and “dynamic alignment on rights and protections”.
Labour MPs who back a second referendum have reacted with dismay to Corbyn’s letter. Pat McFadden said his leader was giving MPs in leave constituencies permission to back May’s deal.
Pat McFadden ✔@patmcfaddenmp He wants it to happen, and even if he doesn’t vote for it himself, he’s sending a signal to Labour MPs that they can do so. Corbyn lays out Labour’s terms for backing May on Brexit | Politics | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/06/corbyn-lays-out-labours-terms-for-backing-may-on-brexit … 11 10:41 AM – Feb 7, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy
✔@patmcfaddenmp
He wants it to happen, and even if he doesn’t vote for it himself, he’s sending a signal to Labour MPs that they can do so. Corbyn lays out Labour’s terms for backing May on Brexit | Politics | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/06/corbyn-lays-out-labours-terms-for-backing-may-on-brexit …
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David Lammy and Owen Smith said Corbyn was compromising too far in favour of Brexit.
Owen Smith ✔@OwenSmith_MP Weaker than our six tests. Ignores conference policy. Downgrades demand for change to the binding Withdrawal Agreement to non-binding Declaration. Trusts the Tories to legislate to protect workers. And rejected already by the Dep. PM as ‘wishful thinking’. Time for a #PeoplesVote Jeremy Corbyn ✔@jeremycorbyn Last week Theresa May and I met to discuss how the Brexit deadlock can be broken after her botched deal was rejected by MPs. Today I have written to outline Labour’s five demands for a sensible agreement that can win the support of parliament and bring the country together. 712 11:00 AM – Feb 7, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy
✔@OwenSmith_MP
Weaker than our six tests. Ignores conference policy. Downgrades demand for change to the binding Withdrawal Agreement to non-binding Declaration. Trusts the Tories to legislate to protect workers. And rejected already by the Dep. PM as ‘wishful thinking’. Time for a #PeoplesVote
✔@jeremycorbyn
Last week Theresa May and I met to discuss how the Brexit deadlock can be broken after her botched deal was rejected by MPs.
Today I have written to outline Labour’s five demands for a sensible agreement that can win the support of parliament and bring the country together.
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And Chuka Umunna, Ben Bradshaw and Mike Gapes said their leader was trying to facilitate Brexit.
Chuka Umunna ✔@ChukaUmunna This is not Opposition, it is the facilitation of a deal which will make this country poorer. A strong, coherent Labour alternative to this shabby, Tory Brexit is absent – it has been since this Parliament began. Totally demoralising. /1 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/06/corbyn-lays-out-labours-terms-for-backing-may-on-brexit?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other … 4,084 11:40 PM – Feb 6, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy
✔@ChukaUmunna
This is not Opposition, it is the facilitation of a deal which will make this country poorer. A strong, coherent Labour alternative to this shabby, Tory Brexit is absent – it has been since this Parliament began. Totally demoralising. /1 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/06/corbyn-lays-out-labours-terms-for-backing-may-on-brexit?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other …
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Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lidington questioned those demands but said he wanted to “understand exactly where the Labour frontbench is coming from”.
He said: “It doesn’t mean we will necessarily come to an agreement, but we need to take this forward … let’s hope those conversations can take place.”
He added: “I would be asking what on earth they mean when they want to be in a customs union with the EU but also for Britain to have a say in EU trade policy with other countries. That’s not something that is allowed under the European treaties. This seems to be wishful thinking. So let’s get down and have those talks with them.”
Lidington was speaking before talks in Brussels between May and European leaders, including Donald Tusk, the president of the European council. On Wednesday Tusk prompted outrage among senior Conservatives when he talked of a “special place in hell” for those who had backed Brexit without a plan on how to achieve it.
Asked if May should demand an apology from Tusk, as some cabinet colleagues have suggested, Lidington said: “He wasn’t criticising the prime minister at all.
“It wasn’t the most brilliant diplomacy in the world. Mr Tusk was venting yesterday, but I don’t think that will detract from sensible and courteous discussions.”
Earlier, Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, suggested Labour had now abandoned its six tests on Brexit in favour of Corbyn’s five demands.
He told Today: “It is not about tests now. What we are doing is saying: ‘We believe these are the options that are available that would actually secure a majority in the House of Commons.’ It is trying to set out, in a spirit of cooperation and compromise, a way forward that we feel not just the majority of Labour MPs, but actually the majority of parliament could say: ‘Yes I can support that, it may not be my dream Brexit or my dream remain but it is something that we can move on for and that would be good for the country.’”
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