Jeremy Corbyn has been roundly criticized by his political opponents for rejecting Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal with the EU out of hand without reading it.
Corbyn was quoted by the PA news service at 10:51am local time Thursday, rejecting what he called a “sell-out deal” despite the fact the full legal text of the agreement was only emailed out by 10 Downing Street at 11:17am.
The Labour leader confirmed he will support a referendum on the deal before it comes into effect, which could further delay the process which has dragged on for three years, much to the frustration of ‘Leave’ voters and EU negotiators.
Corbyn warned the deal would trigger a “race to the bottom,” while suggesting that it betrayed not only the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which props up Johnson’s government, but also voters who were given assurances that their jobs would be protected post-Brexit.
“From what we’ve read of this deal, it doesn’t meet our demands or expectations, it creates a border down the Irish Sea and it leads once again to a race to the bottom in rights and protections for British citizens and a danger of the sell-off of our national assets to American companies,” Corybn said.
Also on rt.com Brexit deal has been struck - Johnson and Juncker announce 'fair and balanced' agreementHowever, when the text of the deal was published after Corbyn’s remarks, it specifically stated a commitment to “maintaining ‘environmental, social and employment standards at the current high levels,” though this may be seen as platitude rather than policy for the moment.
The Labour leader also gave assurances that, were a general election held and won, his party would negotiate its own Brexit deal with the EU within three months, after which point it would put the deal to a public vote within a further three months.
Corbyn’s apparent knee-jerk reaction irked many in the conservative establishment.
Tory deputy chairman Paul Scully railed against Corbyn jumping the gun without having read the actual text of the deal.
“It beggars belief Corbyn rejected the deal before he’d even read it,” he said, adding that, “It shows he has no intention of keeping his promises to respect the referendum, and would only inflict yet more dither and pointless delay on the country.”
Conservative MP Michael Fabricant called Corbyn “the most unpopular Opposition leader since records began” adding that “his immediate condemnation of the deal” brought this point into sharper relief.
Theresa May’s ex-communications boss Sir Robbie Gibb claimed that Corbyn was trying to “welch on a bet” while decrying “the shameless speed with which Corbyn can denounce a deal.”
Some online commentators merely saw it as “politics as usual” and didn’t really see what the fuss was about.
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