Jeremy Corbyn has sought to draw a line under Labour’s Brexit travails by announcing a “settled” policy of backing remain in any referendum called on a Conservative deal.
The Labour leader has been under intense pressure to shift to an overtly anti-Brexit stance, but has insisted on consulting the party’s stakeholders in recent weeks, including the trade unions.
In a statement emailed to party members on Tuesday, Corbyn made no reference to what stance Labour would take in the event of a general election in the near future, or whether Labour could enter such a contest saying it would still go ahead with leaving the European Union.
But he made clear that if a referendum was called on the Brexit deal negotiated by the incoming Conservative prime minister – or on whether to go ahead with a no-deal Brexit – Labour would support remain.
Corbyn wrote: “Whoever becomes the new prime minister should have the confidence to put their deal, or no deal, back to the people in a public vote. In those circumstances, I want to make it clear that Labour would campaign for remain against either no deal or a Tory deal that does not protect the economy and jobs.”
The trade unions published a statement on Monday that suggested Labour should seek to negotiate its own, better Brexit deal and then put that to the people, but declined to specify how the party would campaign in the event of that happening.
Corbyn acknowledged the issue of Brexit had “been divisive in our communities and sometimes in our party too”. He defended Labour’s position over the past three years, saying it had been right to respect the result of the 2016 referendum.
“Labour set out a compromise plan to try to bring the country together based around a customs union, a strong single market relationship and protection of environmental regulations and rights at work. We continue to believe this is a sensible alternative that could bring the country together,” Corbyn said.
With Labour under intense pressure from more overtly pro-remain parties, including the Liberal Democrats, the party had already shifted since the European elections towards urging the Conservatives to put their deal to a public vote. But Corbyn had previously stopped short of saying Labour would campaign for remain in the event of a referendum being called.
In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, he said there was no decision yet as to what Labour would argue for in a general election on Brexit. He said: “We will decide very quickly at the start of that campaign exactly what our position will be.”
Pressed on whether Labour was now a party of leave or remain, Corbyn said: “We will give people the choice on this. That is something which is surely very important. We respect the result of the referendum. We’ve been through this whole long parliamentary process over the past three years and we’ve made it very clear we will do everything we can to take no deal off the table or stop a damaging deal of the sort Hunt and Johnson are proposing.”
Corbyn believes the fact that both sides of the party have signed up to the new policy vindicates his approach of moving gradually, and only after extensive consultation.
Labour also hopes that it can now set aside the Brexit row, and gain more of a hearing for other domestic policies.
Differences in the shadow cabinet over Brexit policy have repeatedly been played out in public in recent months, with the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, joining calls for his party to adopt a remain stance.
The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, was dropped from deputising for Corbyn at prime minister’s questions after criticising the party’s position during TV coverage of the European election results. “We were not clear on the one single thing that people wanted to hear,” she said.
Corbyn’s deputy, Tom Watson, has publicly urged party members to make their disquiet about Labour’s position known by signing up to a remain “declaration”.
But their fellow shadow cabinet members Jon Trickett and Ian Lavery have repeatedly expressed concerns about the idea of supporting remain in a referendum, fearing it will undermine Labour’s support in leave-voting constituencies at the next general election.
