Labour will boost Brexit talks, vows Corbyn as Brussels trip rivals May

Jeremy Corbyn today vowed to stand up for the British people as he embarked on a round of controversial Brexit talks to rival those of Theresa May.

Both main party leaders are in Brussels and Corbyn said he would “support the interests of the people of Britain” as he launched another attack on May’s handling of the negotiations.

The prime minister is due to address EU leaders at a summit dinner later but Corbyn is aiming to seize the initiative by meeting chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as well as the president of the European parliament and the prime ministers of Italy, Sweden and Portugal.

Corbyn received a standing ovation when he addressed EU socialist leaders at the Europe Together conference and later said he wanted stand up for British workers amid mounting fears that May’s talks could end without a deal.

“We are here to make sure that negotiations get on track, that we defend jobs in Britain and we make sure there is trade access in future,” he told Sky News.

“We don’t need to be threatening Europe with an offshore tax haven.”

When asked if his visit was designed to help or hinder Britain’s negotiations with the EU, he insisted May was damaging relations herself.

“We are here to support the interests of the people of Britain in our negotiations with Europe,” he said.

“The PM seems to have managed to upset just about everybody and have a war in cabinet around her. It is up to her to get the negotiations back on track. We cannot countenance the idea that we just rush headlong into no deal with Europe – no deal with Europe would be very dangerous for employment and jobs in Britain.”

Earlier Corbyn used his speech to condemn the “enforcement of a failed austerity” across Europe in the years after the financial crisis.

“[It is] a political choice shaped by an ideology which has crippled many parts of our economies encouraged a dismantling of our public services and driven down wages and living standards.

“In many of our countries, welfare and social security have been hit by the full force of that austerity agenda. Targeting the very poorest in our society.

“At the same time the necessity of large scale and vital public investment has been all but abandoned as a neo-liberal dogma has allowed many of our valuable public assets to be sold cheaply to the benefit of the few at the expense of the many.”

We have seen seven years of austerity in Europe – Corbyn speech in Brussels