50 senior party figures tell party leader Jeremy Corbyn ‘to fight unambiguously for membership of the single market’.
Jeremy Corbyn was under pressure from across the labour movement last night to support a softer form of Brexit as the TUC joined senior party figures in calling for Britain to retain the option of staying in the single market.
The unions’ intervention followed a call from Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Brexit select committee, who wants the party leadership to shift position and support staying in the customs union rather than rejecting the possibility outright.
Last week, 50 senior Labour MPs, peers and MEPs, including the former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna, signed a statement saying the best way to respect the wishes of the pro-Remainers who voted for Labour on 8 June was to “fight unambiguously for membership of the single market”.
Both Corbyn and the shadow chancellor John McDonnell have thus far stopped short of explicitly insisting upon membership of the single market and customs union, stressing instead that whatever deal is done must ensure that the UK continues to enjoy the full benefits of both.
However, after the general election, there is a growing view in Labour, and sections of the Tory party, that the government lacks a mandate for a hard Brexit, and that such as an approach is not backed by a majority of MPs, who fear dire economic consequences of such a complete break. [...]
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