JEREMY Corbyn has defended his decision to snub Theresa May’s offer of talks and has warned that he could call for more votes of no confidence in the Tory government.
However the Labour leader faced difficult questions from his own party on what should happen next.
Labour supporters of a people’s vote on Brexit believe Corbyn should now throw his weight behind the campaign for a second referendum.
But in a speech in Hastings yesterday, he said his party’s priority would be another General Election and winning support for Labour’s Brexit deal. Only if that failed would they then look at the other options.
READ MORE: Why May is being accused of ‘time-wasting’ over Brexit talks
Corbyn told supporters: “Two-and-a-half years of Brexit bungling and failure have left Parliament in deadlock. Nothing can be decided. Nothing can get done.
“We believe that the best outcome for this crisis, for the country as a whole, remains calling a General Election to break the deadlock and find a solution that works for the whole country.
“That is why I tabled a motion of no confidence last night ... and we will come back on it again if necessary because we are determined to deal with the issues facing this country and also give the people a choice of who their MPs should be and who their government should be.”
Corbyn said that he had written to the Prime Minister yesterday setting out his position.
He confirmed that Labour would table amendments when May comes to the Commons on Monday with an announcement about her Brexit plan B. These would include a customs union with a voice for the UK in future EU trade deals, a close single market relationship and protections for rights.
“But if the Government remains intransigent, if support for Labour’s alternative is blocked for party advantage, and the country is facing the potential disaster of no deal, our duty will then be to look at other options which we’ve set out in our conference motion, including the option of a public voting,” said Corbyn.
But when asked what side Labour would campaign on in a public vote, he would only say that “the party will decide what role we will play in that and what our view would be”.
The Labour leader dismissed May’s calls for cross-party discussions as a “stunt” and said the PM seemed unable to grasp the fact that her withdrawal agreement was now “dead”.
“She seems to be prepared to send the country hurtling towards a cliff edge,” he said.
Mike Gapes, a Labour MP and frequent critic of Corbyn, hit out at his leader for refusing to meet May.
He tweeted: “Apparently Corbyn is prepared to hold talks with Hamas, Hezbollah, Assad and Iran without preconditions. But not with the UK Prime Minister. Why?”
Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, told the BBC’s Today programme that Corbyn should have gone to Downing Street. “If, in a moment of national crisis, the Prime Minister asks the leader of the opposition to come and talk, of course he should.”
He also called on Corbyn to clarify his stance on Brexit: “At some point he is going to have to make his position clear,” he said. “It is quite hard to read the runes sometimes in Labour policy right now, but, as I understand, our position is that if the no-confidence motion fails, as it has, then there is an overwhelming majority for supporting putting this back to the people.”
That seemed to be a view shared by Labour’s shadow minister for young people, Gloria De Piero, who liked a Facebook status saying Corbyn “would walk blindfolded through a burning orphanage to avoid spelling out what his Brexit position is”.
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