The Tories’ troubles have diverted attention from Labour’s EU policy. But without an honest position on Europe, Jeremy Corbyn is courting disaster too.
Labour shouldn’t crow about Brexit. It has been fun for the party to have a front row seat at the Tories’ Brexit freak show and it has done wonders for members’ morale. But the spotlight on Theresa May has diverted attention from an uncomfortable truth: Labour’s position on Brexit is no clearer than the government’s and may not be greatly different. Unless Labour comes clean about how it really wants this dismal saga to end, it could be badly damaged as well.
There are two clear Labour policies. One is that it accepts the “will of the people” and leaving the EU, although the majority of Labour voters and MPs want to stay in the EU. The other is that it wants to remain in the single market and customs union during a transition period. The rest is fudge. As expressed by Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, in his conference speech the position is to keep as many as possible options open, which may or may not include some form of long-term single market and customs union arrangements, short of actually staying in the EU.
It’s an artful construct, the kind of political balancing act that questions Corbyn’s reputation as a politician of principle. Like all balancing acts, there’s a risk of falling flat on your face. What is the party really saying? If Labour is elected before this government reaches a Brexit deal, which is possible, it would inherit a dreadful mess. As a government, the party would have to formulate a real policy, not a set of cunningly drafted possibilities. The task would be formidable: the economy will be weak, the nation divided, relations with the EU dismal and Labour may well have only a small or no majority in the Commons.
If the government – with or without May as prime minister – staggers on to reach a Brexit deal, on what basis will Labour accept or reject it? Is the party willing to renegotiate a deal it considers to be flawed if it comes to power after the government reaches an agreement with the EU?
At the moment it’s well nigh impossible to say how Labour would handle a Brexit deal whether in government or opposition, an obfuscation made worse by the suspicion that Labour’s leadership may really want to leave the EU (although Corbyn has said he would vote Remain again).
Voices within Labour, such as the Labour Campaign for the Single Market, are demanding clarity. But the good old-fashioned stitch-up which prevented, with the leadership’s connivance, proper debate on Brexit at the party’s conference does not inspire confidence.
Should Labour not come clean about its Brexit policy soon, it could suffer the same fate as the Tories: division, public loss of confidence, and if in government no coherent direction. The right policy is to make the principled case for staying in the EU. More unprincipled fudge – whatever the leadership really wants – is no good for the party, let alone the nation.