Corbyn rules out Brexit

Corbyn rules out Brexit

New Labour party leader finally clarifies position, pleading to change EU from within.

“Labour is clear that we should remain in the EU. But we too want to see reform”

The issue has created confusion within Labour.

By GINGER HERVEY 9/17/15, 3:00 PM CET Updated 9/17/15, 8:32 PM

http://www.politico.eu/article/corbyn-brexit-news-uk-labour-cameron/

Jeremy Corbyn has finally taken a stance on the issue of Brexit. The new Labour leader has been pressed on the issue in past days. On Thursday, he clarified the party’s renewed position.

“If the prime minister thinks he can weaken workers’ rights and expect goodwill towards Europe to keep us in the EU, he is making a great mistake,” Corbyn wrote in the Financial Times.

But, Corbyn pledged, rather than campaigning against a supposed deal, Labour will aim for a different deal: “[t]he answer to any damaging changes that Mr Cameron brings back from his renegotiation is not to leave the EU but to pledge to reverse those changes with a Labour government elected in 2020.”

Railing against TTIP or European creditors’ approach of the Greek crisis, Corbyn argued “Labour is clear that we should remain in the EU. But we too want to see reform.”

“Labour is clear that we should remain in the EU. But we too want to see reform” — Corbyn

In an interview with the BBC Wednesday, when asked about whether he could see a scenario where Labour campaigned to leave the EU, the newly elected party leader said he could not.

Corbyn, widely considered to be the most Euroskeptic Labour leader in recent years, denied that this was a change in his position.

During the lead up to his election in the summer, he supported EU membership but left open the possibility of backing the exit campaign if Prime Minister David Cameron used renegotiations with the bloc to reduce workers’ rights and environmental protections.

“What I have said is that I wouldn’t give Cameron a blank check, and I won’t give Cameron a blank check,” Corbyn said Wednesday.

The issue has created confusion within Labour. On Monday, new shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn said Labour would support the “In” campaign under any circumstances, but on the same day new shadow chancellor John McDonnell left some wiggle room in the party’s position.

“Whatever Cameron comes back with [in the renegotiation], we will have to assess what that is,” McDonnell said.

Former shadow business secretary Chukka Umunna declined to serve under Corbyn because Umunna unconditionally supports staying in the EU, and said the new leader “has made it clear to me that he does not wholeheartedly share this view.”