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Just weeks before the premier’s predicted “do or die” deadline, Labour is still deeply divided over Brexit, increasing the uncertainty over Britain’s departure.
British opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Sunday his party would guide him on how to campaign in a second Brexit referendum, promising voters a choice between staying in the European Union and a “credible” deal, a few weeks before the deadline.
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“We will put both views to the British people and say look this is the best deal we could get, (and) this is the remain and hopefully the reform option,” Corbyn added.
Despite being known as an instinctive critic of the EU, a renewed pressure from party members and even some of his top team have led him to play a neutral stance. He’s said that it was more important to hold the party together by embracing its “remainers” and those who want to leave the bloc.
Just weeks before the premier’s predicted “do or die” deadline, Labour is still deeply divided over Brexit, increasing the uncertainty over Britain’s departure. Reuters reported a new row broke out when an ally of Corbyn tried to oust deputy leader Tom Watson over Brexit.
Asked whether his party would campaign to remain in the EU or to leave with a deal, Corbyn told the BBC he would stage a special conference to determine Labour’s stance after an election which is widely expected to come before the year-end.
But his foreign affairs policy chief, Emily Thornberry, urged Labour to decide now its stance in a new referendum, voicing growing fears that having an unclear position on Brexit might punish Labour at an election.
Meanwhile, Johnson lost influence over Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc on Sept. 9 when a law came into force demanding he delays Brexit until 2020 unless he can make a deal is in place by Oct. 19.
It’s unclear what Johnson’s next move over Brexit will be as the law obliges him to seek a delay unless he can strike a new deal, however, the UK and the EU are struggling to reach a last-minute agreement before Britain's planned departure still scheduled to happen Oct. 31.
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