Don’t write off Andrew Adonis yet

Andrew Adonis’ parroting of Labour’s mealy-mouthed Brexit policy will be vindicated if Jeremy Corbyn comes off the fence and unequivocally backs a referendum. If not, he should stand down as a candidate for the party in the European Parliament elections.

Adonis, a darling of the pro-European grassroots, has toured the country in the past year making fiery speeches against the folly of Brexit. He shocked supporters yesterday with a Facebook post which, among other things, said: “Labour has put forward a sensible alternative plan that would ensure a close economic relationship with the EU after Brexit, based on a new customs union and dynamic alignment on rights and standards.”

What on earth was the Labour peer doing backing a form of “soft” Brexit which he knows is against the national interest and makes a mockery of much of what he has said and written in the past year?

The clue is the start of Adonis’ Facebook post, where he apologised for saying on LBC earlier this year that Brexiters shouldn’t vote for the Labour Party. Nigel Farage latched onto the remark and was using it to drum up support for his new Brexit Party. Telling people not to vote for Labour contravenes party policy. If Adonis hadn’t eaten his words, he would probably have been deselected as a candidate for South West England in next month’s elections.

Many pro-Europeans will say he should have stood by his principles and become a martyr for the cause. Others will say it was unwise to stand in an election in the first place without knowing what would be in the party’s manifesto.

At time of writing 577 people had indicated on his Facebook post that they were angry and 241 that they were sad, compared to just 371 who liked it. Adonis has today sought to repair the damage by tweeting that “the people must be given the final say!”

Whether he was wise to put himself forward as a candidate and then to kowtow to Corbyn via his Facebook post largely depends on what Labour puts in its manifesto for the European elections. It is expected to finalise this next Tuesday.

There is a furious battle under way. Some are pushing for Labour to back a referendum in all circumstances. Others only want to support a public vote on the prime minister’s deal and yet others want an ambiguous policy. Adonis and the other candidates in the European elections may have some influence on the position.

If Labour does pin its colours to the referendum mast – and the early omens from the international commission of the party’s national policy forum look good – Adonis’ decision to fight from inside the tent will look sensible. If not, it will look foolish. At that point, his only way to maintain credibility would be to resign as a candidate. That’s a position other pro-Europeans standing for Labour in the elections should also take.

This article was updated shortly after public to make reference to the international commission of Labour’s national policy forum.

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