JEREMY Corbyn has distanced his party from calls for a so-called people’s vote on Brexit, saying it is “not an option for today.”
His comments were branded “disappointing” by Scottish Labour politicians supportive of a second referendum.
In an interview with Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, Corbyn also said his party “couldn’t stop” Brexit because of parliamentary arithmetic.
Last week when asked by German magazine, Der Spiegel, if Labour could stymie Brexit, he said “we can’t stop it”.
But hours later the party’s shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer, told Channel 4 News: “Brexit can be stopped.”
Asked yesterday about the difference of opinion with his frontbencher, Corbyn told Ridge his original comment was more nuanced.
“As of this moment, the arithmetic in parliament is such that Brexit has been triggered, article 50. We voted for article 50 in order to give respect to the referendum.
“I was asked this question by Der Spiegel and what I said was we couldn’t stop it because we don’t have the votes in parliament to do so.”
He added: “There was a referendum in 2016, a majority voted to leave the EU, there are many reasons why people voted. I don’t think you call a referendum and then say you don’t like the result and go away from it, you’ve got to understand why people voted and negotiate the best deal you can.”
Corbyn declined to say how he would vote if there was a second referendum on Brexit.
“I don’t know how I am going to vote, what the options would be at that time,” he said.
He added: “It’s an option for the future, but it’s not an option for today. If there was a referendum tomorrow, what’s it going to be on, what’s the question going to be?”
Corbyn confirmed that Labour MPs would vote against the agreement when it comes to Parliament.
Scottish Labour MEP Catherine Stihler said she was disappointed by Corbyn’s comments: “Support is growing for a People’s Vote, and there is an opportunity for Labour to get fully behind this and campaign to stop a reckless and damaging Brexit. This is a time for strong leadership in the interests of the workers who our party represents.”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Nicola Sturgeon said she would seek discussions with Corbyn over Brexit when she visits London later this week.
The First Minister said: “I listened to him and there’s still an absence of leadership, of Jeremy Corbyn saying what he’d do differently, so if I can help get Labour into a position where we can coalesce, I would be delighted to try and do that.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here