JEREMY Corbyn has said a Labour government will back Brexit if elected in a snap election.
In a speech in West Yorkshire, the leader of the opposition said his priority was a new agreement with Brussels rather than a second referendum.
Earlier this week, polling from the people’s vote campaign suggested support for Labour would plummet if they were seen to either back Brexit or fail to oppose Brexit.
But Corbyn told the crowd yesterday that a leader “who wants to bring the country together cannot wish away the votes of 17 million who wanted to leave, any more than they can ignore the concerns of the 16 million who voted to remain”.
He added that Labour’s plan “for a sensible Brexit deal” would respect “the democratic result of the referendum” and that the party would go into a snap election seeking “a renewed mandate to negotiate a better deal for Britain”.
Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray said it would be a “betrayal” of their voters if his party went into an election promising to carry on with Brexit.
“We would certainly pay the price at the ballot box,” he added. “Any type of Brexit will harm workers and the communities we represent, while making people poorer.
“If, as is likely, an attempt to hold a General Election fails, it is incumbent on the Labour leadership to immediately throw its support behind a people’s vote and campaign to remain in the EU.”
READ MORE: Scottish Labour facing post-Brexit election wipeout
The SNP’s Stephen Gethins agreed, accusing Corbyn of “running down the clock to Brexit just to avoid having to make a decision on a second EU referendum”.
He added: “If Jeremy Corbyn is intent on protecting jobs and living standards, then I call on him to work with the SNP in bringing this Brexit deadlock to an end and support a second EU referendum.”
Corbyn’s speech came as Downing Street tried to tempt wavering Labour MPs to back May’s deal, by promising to support an amendment enshrining EU rules on workers’ rights.
It’s thought a handful of Corbyn’s backbenchers could support May’s deal, but it will still not likely be enough to take the Prime Minister anywhere close to victory.
In the Commons, the Tory leader’s deal was savaged, as MPs took part in a second day of debate on the agreement.
The SNP’s Mhairi Black said May had offered voters a false choice.
“Since long before the ink had even dried on the text, the Prime Minister has been trying to create this narrative that it’s a choice between her deal and no deal,” she said.
“But the Prime Minister clearly has options beyond her deal and no deal. She could ask for an extension of Article 50, she could keep us in the single market and customs union, or she could take the choice back to the people.
“So to say it’s her deal or no deal is a piece of nonsense. And what she’s failing to say to the public is that she’s deliberately manufactured things to appear that way, in a cynical attempt to save her own skin.”
Black said after the 2014 independence referendum her party was promised Scotland would be treated as part of the UK’s “family of nations”.
“But when Scotland votes to remain in the EU it is cast as irrelevant, Scotland is treated as a region,” she said.
The Paisley MP added: “If Unionist members truly believe that Scotland should be subject to an English and Welsh EU result, then they concede that we are not a family of nations and that to Westminster, Scotland is no better than a province”.
Fellow SNP MP Pete Wishart said the EU referendum was about
“isolationism and immigration”. He added: “It was about stopping people coming to this country.
“That defined every single case for rotten Brexit – every reference was about ending freedom of movement, which is presented as the great prize of this deal and this Brexit.”
Scottish Tory MP Alister Jack said he would be voting for the deal, despite reservations over the “uncomfortable” Irish backstop arrangement. He told colleagues: “I believe that, compared with the other courses available, this is a reasonable, calculated risk.”
Meanwhile, there was confusion over how long MPs would have to debate any Brexit plan B brought forward by the Prime Minister if she loses next Tuesday’s vote.
Downing Street said that MPs would only get 90 minutes, but the Tory chief whip, Julian Smith, said that nothing had been decided.
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