What does Brexit really mean? After parliament’s return, all sides are being forced to provide greater clarity. Labour sources have today revealed for the first time that Jeremy Corbyn does not support automatic UK membership of the single market. They emphasised his opposition to “damaging” rules such as state aid restrictions and said only that he favoured “full access” for goods and services”. Should the EU fail to radically reform the market, Labour is likely to oppose membership. In parliament, Corbyn denounced Theresa May’s support for open markets as “free trade dogma”.
The Labour leader’s stance is, in some respects, unsurprising. He has opposed every major European treaty since voting against EEC membership in 1975 and the left has long loathed the single market as a Thatcherite creation (it was the Conservative prime minister who signed the Single European Act in 1986).
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