Social protections can best be upheld through international cooperation. Labour should clearly back the single market and the customs unionBritish politics is polarised on nearly every axis,so it is strange how tiny conflict there is between Labour and the Conservatives on the biggest issue: the terms of departure from the EU. Jeremy Corbyn’s challenges to Theresa May over Brexit negotiations at prime minister’s questions final week felt remarkable because he so rarely opens battle on that front. Labour has not obstructed Tory legislation enabling the very hardest of Brexits. The frontbench say they would pursue a different model, putting “jobs first”. But whips have instructed Labour MPs to sit on their hands as the Tory agenda is enacted.
Mr Corbyn’s views in the area are indistinct, or apart from to insist that for democracy’s sake,the referendum verdict must be honoured. That is a sensible starting point for the leader of a national party, especially one that represents many areas that voted leave. But ending EU membership leaves a spectrum of options, and notably in the question of the single market and customs union. The Tories are committed to rupture from both; Labour equivocates.
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Source: guardian.co.uk