Jeremy Corbyn has made increasing Labour members’ power a defining theme of his leadership. But as I noted before the party conference began, there is one issue on which Corbyn is starkly at odds with activists: Brexit. A recent poll found that 66 per cent of Labour members believe the UK should “definitely” remain in the single market, with a further 20.7 per cent more favourable than not.
When challenged on the subject on The Andrew Marr Show, Corbyn refused to give ground. Though he emphasised that he wanted “tariff-free trade access to the European market” and promised to “listen” to activists, he sounded a sceptical note over continued single market membership. “We need to look very carefully at the terms of any trade relationship because at the moment we’re part of the single market, obviously, that has within it restrictions on state aid and state spending, that has pressures on it through the European Union to privatise rail, for example, and other services.”
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