Ed Miliband demands Theresa May give MPs a vote ahead of Brexit talks

MPs should have a say on what deal the Government tries to get from Brexit negotiations, Ed Miliband has said.

The former Labour leader said that he does not want to stop the UK leaving the European Union, but does not believe that Theresa May has backing to pursue a “hard Brexit”.

“There’s no mandate for a huge separation from the single market, a hard Brexit, I don’t believe, and that’s why Parliament has to be consulted,” he told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire Show this morning.

Miliband wants the Government to put forward a white paper setting out what its “opening position” will be in negotiations, so that MPs can have chance to give consent on behalf of their constituents. “Parliament’s got to take a view on that to give the Government a mandate for the negotiations,” he said.

He argued that many Out campaigners had based their case on sovereignty but if May’s Government pursued a strategy without a Commons vote then that issue would be bypassed. “If this is all about sovereignty… then Parliament, as a representative of the people, has to take a view, and the people have to be consulted.”

He added: “How can you bypass the sovereign body of the people, Parliament?”

The Doncaster North MP defended himself from accusations that he is trying to block the result of the referendum, pointing out that 69 per cent of people in his constituency voted to Leave. “I’m not saying ‘Let’s try and reverse the result’,” he said, adding that he did not agree with the view that the Government should not have to act on the result of the referendum. “This is not about re-running the referendum it’s about getting the right outcome for the country.”

Miliband also reiterated his belief that Labour can “absolutely” win an election under Jeremy Corbyn, despite supporting Owen Smith’s candidacy this summer. “He was re-elected by our party. We’ve got more members than in 40 or 50 years. He’s mobilised party members and people who weren’t party members in a way that even I didn’t do so. It’s on all of us to take this out to the country and convince the country,” he said.

He revealed that Labour MPs have changed their “attitude” towards Corbyn following his second leadership victory last month, and that people were now prepared to work together.

“There has been a change in terms of attitude and will among the Parliamentary Party since Jeremy’s re-election. There’s an acceptance that he won, an acceptance that people have to work with him. That doesn’t mean there won’t be disagreements, that doesn’t mean there’ll be content peace, but that does mean we’ve got to concentrate in the country and not on the party.”

Asked about an unlikely comparison between Corbyn and Donald Trump, Miliband said that the two offered “totally different solutions”, but that their success “tells you something about how deep the dissatisfaction is” with the “capitalist system, the kind of system America, and indeed Britain, are putting forward”.