Corbyn: PM is playing Brexit games and trying to wrap the Tories in the Union Jack

This is Jeremy Corbyn’s full response to Theresa May’s astounding speech in Downing Street in which she accused EU politicians of making interventions “deliberately timed to affect the result” of the British general election.

Theresa May is playing party games with Brexit in the hope of winning advantage for the Tories in the general election.

By winding up the public confrontation with Brussels, the prime minister wants to wrap the Conservative party in the Union Jack and distract attention from her government’s economic failure and rundown of our public services.

But Brexit is too important to be used as a political game in this election.

These are vital negotiations for every person in Britain and for the future of our country. But Theresa May is putting party interest ahead of the national interest.

The prime minister is right that there are those in Brussels who don’t want a deal. But that is also true of leading figures in the Tory party, who want to use Brexit to turn Britain into a low wage tax haven.

The prime minister says that no deal would lead to a different economic model for Britain.

In plain terms, that means wiping out employment rights and consumer protections and giving still more tax breaks to the rich and big corporations.

That’s the threat and the risk that comes from this Tory government.

Only Labour can be trusted to negotiate a Brexit deal that puts jobs and living standards first. Labour will negotiate a Brexit for the many not the few.