Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn today insisted he wants Britain to stay in the EU – amid mounting pressure from Labour MPs for him to campaign harder for a Remain vote.
In a piece for the Observer today, senior Labour MPs Chris Leslie, Emma Reynolds, Ben Bradshaw and Adrian Bailey argued Mr Corbyn should make the EU vote his “overriding priority”.
“If we remain in the European Union, this will be down in no small part to the votes of Labour supporters, something for which our party can legitimately take much of the credit,” they wrote.
“But if the British public vote to leave the EU, we will only have ourselves to blame – and many will naturally ask whether leaders of our main political parties did enough to pull their weight.
“The fate of our country’s future isn’t just in the hands of the Prime Minister, but also the leader of the Labour party.
“We need Jeremy to convey that urgency and set out with force the issues at stake.
“The time is now for Labour’s leadership to stand up and not to stand by.”
He said: “We want people to vote to remain in the EU so that we can develop a social Europe, a just Europe, we can protect the workers’ rights advances that have been made but we are also in a position to argue for the protection of workers’ rights in public services should the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership ever come along.
He added that Labour supported a Europe committed to “universal environmental protection”.
Mr Corbyn also refused to criticise a controversial pro-EU leaflet being sent out by Downing Street at a cost of £9.3 million to the public purse.
He said: “I think everybody should be fully informed before a vote is taken.
“There should be a proper debate on everything that is taken and I hope there will be an equality of airtime and debate so everyone can understand the implications of what is of course a very important decision.
“And I hope Labour supporters will vote to remain.”
