Six things about Corbyn’s latest response on Brexit

After gaining the EU Council’s approval for the deal on Sunday, Theresa May gave another Brexit update to the Commons. As anyone could have predicted, Jeremy Corbyn described the deal as “botched”, “bad for the country” and “the worst of all worlds”. All the summit yesterday did was “mark the end of this government’s failed and miserable negotiations”, the Labour leader said. But Corbyn also offered new criticisms. Here are the highlights of his response in the chamber.

1. The economy. “They know these negotiations have failed and they know it will leave Britain worse off.” Corbyn pointed out that the deal would shrink the UK economy by 3.9% according to experts, and that this impact would actually be greater than our net contribution to the EU budget. In her own response, Theresa May countered this attack by reminding MPs that Corbyn himself once claimed there would be a ‘Brexit dividend’. Meanwhile, others said any Brexit deal would be worse for the economy in the short-term than remaining, and since Labour’s position is not to defy the 2016 result, this makes Corbyn’s criticism an odd one.

2. The backstop. Corbyn called on May to admit that in June 2020, the UK government will be “faced with a stark choice” between extending the transition period – which would involve sending more money to the EU – and implementing the backstop, i.e. a border down the Irish Sea. “So much for taking back control of our borders, money and laws.”

3. The fishermen. Picking up on Emmanuel Macron’s recent comments about access to British waters, Corbyn argued that May’s deal means agreeing to French demands for access and quota shares in order to secure a future trade deal or extended the transition period.

4. The Spanish veto. Corbyn said May had performed a “climb-down” over Gibraltar, as the British Overseas Territory will not automatically covered by a future trade deal. But others have remarked that this was more of an admission than a concession because the withdrawal agreement had always assumed Gibraltar would be dealt with separately.

5. The Prime Minister’s stoicism. May has been praised for her stoicism, fortitude and Dunkirk spirit, basically, so Corbyn took this on by saying: “Ploughing on is not stoic. It is an act of national self-harm.” to help sell the deal to the country, No10 has been banking on public sympathy for May – this was a reply to that effort.

6. The alternative plan. “Instead of threatening this House with a no deal scenario, or no Brexit scenario, the Prime Minister now needs to prepare a Plan B,” the Labour leader demanded. There exists a “sensible deal” that could get the approval of enough MPs to be passed by the Commons, Corbyn concluded. This kind of talk, which reflects the line of thinking expressed by John McDonnell last week, is unlikely to please the Remainers/’people’s vote’ supporters amongst the PLP. It seems to be laying the ground for Labour to whip for a deal in the future, which does somewhat contradict Point 1. But if the leadership is not keen on a fresh referendum and cannot secure a general election, and Keir Starmer believes the opposition could force the government and EU to renegotiate, that seems to be where we’re headed.