Corbyn piles pressure on May over Brexit as Labour pledges customs union

By Andrew MacAskill

LONDON, 26 Feb. - (ANA) - British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is due on Monday to support staying in a customs union with the EU after Brexit, a move that could lead to a parliamentary defeat for Prime Minister Theresa May.

As May tries to strike a divorce deal with the European Union by October, she is facing a rebellion by a small group of pro-Europeans inside her Conservative Party that Labour Party leader Corbyn hopes to use to undermine her authority.

May has ruled out any customs union with the EU after Brexit because it would prevent Britain from striking new trade deals with fast-growing economies including as China and India.

Labour’s Brexit policy chief Keir Starmer said on Sunday his party has agreed that if it wins power it would negotiate to remain permanently in a new customs union with the bloc.

If Corbyn explicitly backs a customs union in a speech on Monday then it could set the stage for Labour lawmakers to join Conservative rebels in supporting the necessary amendments to trade legislation.

The vote could be tight. May holds a working majority of 13 seats and, while British media said between 10 and 15 of her party might rebel, a few pro-Brexit Labour lawmakers are expected to vote with the government.

While defeat would represent a major challenge to May’s ability to deliver on her Brexit strategy, some of the Conservative rebels have already played down talk of collapsing the government, and any changes could be reversed later in the legislative process.

Corbyn, a veteran left-wing lawmaker, is meanwhile expected to disappoint some anti-Brexit politicians in his party by indicating he, like May, favors taking Britain out of the EU’s single market.

“There will be some who will tell you that Brexit is a disaster for this country and some who will tell you that Brexit will create a land of milk and honey. The truth is more down to earth and it’s in our hands: Brexit is what we make of it together,” Corbyn will say, according to excerpts of the speech.

“Labour would negotiate a new and strong relationship with the single market that includes full tariff-free access and a floor under existing rights, standards and protections.”

Sterling rose on Monday, partly on hopes that Corbyn's shift indicates Britain will stay close to the EU after Brexit. Sterling rallied 0.6 percent to $1.4047 GBP= and 0.3 percent to 87.79 pence per euro EURGBP=."

May is due to set out her own vision for Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU in a speech on Friday.


SOFTER BREXIT?


While Britain’s politicians discuss what sort of Brexit they want, EU leaders have warned that the clock is ticking in negotiations and that they need more than vague “illusions” from Britain in order to strike a proper deal by October.

By staying within a customs union, Britain would avoid tariff barriers for its exports to the bloc as well as the risk of a return to a ‘hard border’ between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, a prospect that alarms many in Dublin and Belfast.

But that, supporters of leaving the EU argue, would prevent other trade deals around the world, which they see as one of Britain’s big potential gains from Brexit.

Labour is narrowly ahead in opinion polls but, like the Conservatives, remains deeply divided on its Brexit strategy and has no appetite for a second referendum on EU membership.

“We respect the result of the (2016) referendum,” Corbyn will say.

“Our priority is to get the best deal for people’s jobs, living standards and the economy. We reject any race to the bottom in workers’ rights, environmental safeguards, consumer protections, or food safety standards.”

The party’s divisions were exposed over the weekend when more than 80 senior members called on Corbyn to commit to remaining in the EU’s single market.

Labour’s Brexit policy chief Starmer warned that “crunch time is coming” for May and Labour would probably support the amendments to the trade bill.

Trade Secretary Liam Fox said the government would delay the key vote on the bill partly because it wanted more time to convince its own lawmakers to vote with the government.- (ANA) -

AB/ANA/ 26 February 2018 - - -