Don’t vote Labour in European elections

Labour has twice whipped in favour of a referendum and will probably do so again. But its manifesto for the European Parliament elections is too wishy-washy to support. Pro-Europeans should not vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s party on May 23.

Instead, they should vote for one of the parties that is unambiguously in favour a People’s Vote: the Greens, Liberal Democrats or Change UK. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Alliance Party and the SDLP also fit the bill.

Voters who agree that stopping Brexit is the urgent priority should not reward Labour for umming and ahhing. If they vote for another party, Corbyn will see how failing to pin his colours to the mast has a cost.

We will still need Labour’s votes in Westminster to get a new referendum. And they can probably be counted on. After all, the party is most unlikely to agree an alternative Brexit deal with the Tories – because either one or both parties would split in the process.

But this is not 100% certain. And in the event that Corbyn does a deal with Theresa May, he is not committed to a confirmatory referendum on it. So we must keep the pressure on Corbyn.

This is especially important since there could be a general election later this year. If Labour gets away with its fudged European manifesto, it may try to repeat the trick in a general election. A strong showing for the parties which back a referendum without quibbles would be a shot across its bows.

Some will say that pro-Europeans should still vote for Labour to stop Nigel Farage’s Brexit party coming first on May 23. This is exactly the wrong conclusion. If Farage wins the election, Labour supporters will know that Corbyn is to blame and there will be an outcry. The pressure on him to take a pro-European line in both the coming parliamentary battles and a possible general election will get greater.

Others will say that pro-Europeans should still support excellent Labour candidates such as Richard Corbett, the leader of the party’s MEPs. In an ideal world, it would be wonderful if he was returned to the European Parliament. But if we don’t stop Brexit, it will be futile to elect him. Far better to hold Corbyn’s feet to the fire by denying Labour votes.

Yet others will be tempted to vote for the likes of Andrew Adonis, one of the vice chairs of the European Movement. But Adonis was last week forced to pay homage to Corbyn’s fudge and mudge. The best service he could now do for the cause would be to resign his candidacy and suggest that voters back another party.

Finally, it will be said that we need to talk up Labour’s pro-referendum credentials. When the votes are tallied and pundits calculate whether pro-European parties did better than pro-Brexit ones, we will want to include its votes in our column.

That’s true. And Labour, on balance, is a pro-referendum party. But its commitment is not clear cut. And anybody who instead backs a party that is not hedging its bets won’t detract from the total number of votes for the pro-Europeans. They will, though, give a strong signal to Corbyn not to repeat today’s error.

A reference to the votes being tallied on May 24 was removed shortly after publication.

Published and promoted by Hugo Dixon on behalf of Referendum Facts Ltd., Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London SW1P 4QP