“No-deal Brexit is really a Trump-deal Brexit,” says Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn has said that a post-Brexit trade deal with the US would put the UK at the mercy of Donald Trump and US corporate interests.

Writing in The Independent ahead of Tuesday’s multi-party talks on averting no deal, the Labour leader said that the 2016 EU referendum is being co-opted by opportunists vying for a “bankers’ Brexit.”

He writes: “If we leave without a deal on 31 October, they will use the crisis to push through policies that benefit them and hurt everyone else – as they have since 2010. They will aim to reduce the power of workers; protections for consumers; the tax bills of bankers and the richest and big corporations; as well as the regulations that are supposed to stop them abusing their power.

“Our prime minister is cosying up to Trump because a no-deal Brexit is really a Trump-deal Brexit. It won’t return sovereignty; it will put us at the mercy of Trump and the big US corporations dying to get their teeth into our NHS, sound the death knell for our steel industry, and strip back our food standards and animal welfare protections.”

Appearing on Sky’s Ridge on Sunday, Barry Gardiner insisted that the NHS would still be open to attack in a trade deal with the US despite the Prime Minister’s assurances that it would be “off the table” in any negotiations. The Shadow International Trade Secretary warned that the inclusion of an investor-state dispute settlement clause “would allow foreign companies to sue our government if we introduce public health policies which they believe would damage their future profits.”

Boris Johnson’s refusal to rule out proroguing parliament to force through a no deal Brexit has added more urgency to Corbyn’s Tuesday meeting with other party leaders and senior backbenchers, where he will outline his ambitious plan to avoid no deal. In his article for The Independent Corbyn maintains that an autumn general election would be the most democratic means to avoid no deal, but said that he is open to other options.

He writes: “We won’t rule out other options, such as passing legislation, that could stop this no-deal disaster in its tracks. I’ll discuss all these options with the leaders of other opposition parties on Tuesday. I hope we can come to a good working arrangement and bring on board others across parliament who see the danger of a no-deal crash out.