Re: Corbyn’s Labour to back REMAIN in a 2nd EU referendum to wipe out Tory Brexit deal Archived Message
Posted by John Monro on July 10, 2019, 3:16 am, in reply to "Corbyn’s Labour to back REMAIN in a 2nd EU referendum to wipe out Tory Brexit deal"
All this drama. Corbyn has always wanted to remain, he's said so on many occasions, both before and after the referendum. But he's ambivalent about the EU, that too is a very rational position. That was always the problem with the referendum, making a complicated issue into a simplistic binary one. But he is a believer in democracy, and recognised the vote to leave, and the number of Labour supporters in many constituencies who voted for this. But at the same time, the majority of Labour supporters wished to stay, as did the majority of Labour MPs. So, he's sat on the fence a bit, or paddled his canoe somewhere in the middle of the English channel, not knowing quite which way to get back to land. Unlike so many people, I think this has been a perfectly rational place to be, though I don't think he's explained this very well to the citizens. Unlike so many others pulling one way or the other, he's recognised more than almost anyone else the need to try and keep the country together. He's been willing to leave on an agreement which meets his agenda, and he feels he could have achieved this, he has discussed all this with various parties in the EU so there's no reason to doubt this claim It is claimed, with very little evidence, that Corbyn was always a leaver. I've never believed this. But above all he sees nothing but disaster in leaving the EU without an agreement, as he sees the complete dismantling of all the social political norms, including work legislation and employment protection and the NHS etc under an even more extreme right wing agenda and the so-called special relationship with the USA. So it makes sense, that if it looked likely the UK would leave without any agreement, he and Labour would do anything they can to stop this, including a repeat referendum. In which case, it is perfectly rational to return to the original political position, which is to campaign to remain in the EU. It might help to establish the worth of this new referendum if it were required to reach a majority of say 52.5% or 55%, but at the same time EU residents of the UK and UK residents in the rest of the EU should be eligible to vote. I think Corbyn has done the best he can, I truly admire him for his calmness and humanity and his thought for the welfare of all the citizens of the UK, not just those that make the biggest noise, but all those meek and kind and honourable and ordinary people who make up by far the largest part of the community called the UK.
|
|