Brexit: Jeremy Corbyn’s five conditions for backing May’s deal
Labour leader offers PM way out but is she prepared to pay the price?
Jeremy Corbyn has offered to throw Labour’s full support behind Theresa May’s Brexit deal if she makes five legally binding commitments - including joining a permanent customs union with the EU.
In a letter sent to the prime minister last night, the Labour leader said his party “would support her agreement with the EU if the non-binding political declaration were changed towards a softer Brexit”, reports the Financial Times.
“We recognise that any negotiation with the EU will require flexibility and compromise,” he added.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Corbyn is calling for the Government to “enshrine these new negotiating objectives in UK law so that a future Tory leader could not sweep them away after Brexit”, says The Guardian.
Labour says the changes to the political declaration must include:
1. A permanent UK-wide customs union, including a say on future EU trade deals
2. Close alignment with the single market, including membership of “shared institutions”
3. “Dynamic alignment with EU rights and protections”, for workers, consumers and the environment
4. Clear commitments on future UK membership of EU agencies and funding programmes
5. Agreements on a future comprehensive security arrangements, including membership of the European Arrest Warrant
Unlike the “deliberately nebulous and unfulfillable” six Brexit tests previously demanded by Labour, these latest requirements “are serious suggestions which the Government could conceivably meet”, says right-wing political blog Guido Fawkes.
The letter “represents the most sophisticated and nuanced intervention from the opposition frontbench” yet on Brexit, agrees the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush.
The intervention is also “a boost for advocates of a Norway Plus Brexit, such as Stephen Kinnock, Nicky Morgan, Nick Boles, Lucy Powell and others, as these demands can only be met by that type of arrangement”, Bush adds.
Tory MP Boles acknowledged this point almost immediately following the letter’s publication, retweeting messages backing the proposal and adding one of his own: “This takes us a big step closer to a cross party compromise based on Common Market 2.0.”
But Corbyn is facing criticism from some of his own Europhile MPs for seemingly ruling out support for another referendum.
Former shadow minister Chuka Umunna said Corbyn’s letter was “totally demoralising”. “This is not opposition, it is the facilitation of a deal which will make this country poorer,” Umunna said.
Fellow Labour backbencher Chris Leslie said Corbyn had put Labour’s conference policy, which included potential support for options such as a second referendum, “in the bin”.
The Corbyn offer will also “most likely dismay No. 10”, says The Spectator’s Katy Balls, who points out that it undermines May’s claim that there’s no way to get the Brexit deal through Parliament without reopening the Withdrawal Agreement and rewriting the backstop.
“Should [the EU] offer little to May on the backstop, the prime minister will once again be under pressure to consider backing a customs union - an option which means no free trade and is toxic to a large chunk of her party,” says Balls.
Describing it as “a Faustian pact”, Guido Fawkes says that in accepting Corbyn’s terms, “May would finally get a deal through but condemn herself to eternal damnation in the eyes of many of her supporters”.
Indeed, it is alleged that within Corbyn’s inner circle the calculation - “almost certainly accurate”, says Politico’s Jack Blanchard - is that the PM simply does not have the political capital to take Labour up on this offer, even if she wanted to.
“The belief is May will be too concerned by the threat of splitting her party to agree any deal that relies on frontbench Labour support to get it through,” Blanchard adds.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
When will mortgage rates finally start coming down?
The Explainer Much to potential homebuyers' chagrin, mortgage rates are still elevated
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Women are getting their own baseball league again
In the Spotlight The league is on track to debut in 2026
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Giant TVs are becoming the next big retail commodity
Under the Radar Some manufacturers are introducing TVs over 8 feet long
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Was Georgia's election stolen?
Today's Big Question The incumbent Georgian Dream party seized a majority in the disputed poll, defying predictions
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Is Labour risking the 'special relationship'?
Today's Big Question Keir Starmer forced to deny Donald Trump's formal complaint that Labour staffers are 'interfering' to help Harris campaign
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Moldova backs joining EU in close vote marred by Russia
Speed Read The country's president was also pushed into a runoff election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why is Germany cracking down on migration?
Today's Big Question New border rules test the European Union
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published