After Prime Mister Theresa May’s Deal was voted down once again by parliament on March 12, the leader of the opposition, Labour boss Jeremy Corbyn, is demanding a general election but not a second referendum, as a majority within his party would like to see.
For Corbyn, the EU has always been some kind of an evil, neo-liberal project. Therefore, he was in favour of Brexit, although not publicly. He simply did not fight for Remain. Now, he is in favour of a soft Brexit, but a Brexit nevertheless, although his party, Labour, clearly expressed the wish that a second referendum should be back on the table if May’s Deal had no chance. This is not the first time Jeremy Corbyn is trying to ignore what the majority of his party wants. It is not the first time he tries to avoid the option of a second referendum.
UK voters and UK parliamentarians still do not really know what they want. However, there is a majority in the House of Commons against a Hard Brexit, despite the Brexiters affirming the contrary. If May’s Deal is definitively off the table and it comes down to a choice between a Hard Brexit and Remain, common sense should prevail and Remain be chosen.
Unfortunately, we are still not there yet. The idea of an extension of the deadline has too many advocates. But it does not make much sense as long as the EU says there can be no other deal and that May insists on putting forward her same, pretty much identical deal time and again.
As for Jeremy Corbyn, he shows once more that he is not a responsible leader. Is a general election really what Britain needs now? Can he not come forward with a more constructive idea to solve the Brexit issue? In his defense, Theresa May is not very constructive either, not to mention the hard-core Hard Brexiters around Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Just one detail: 70% of Britain’s food supplies are imports [Correction added on March 14, 2019 at 16:30 Berlin time: in fact, 79% of all UK food imports come from the EU. However, the UK produces 61% of the country’s food consumption, “only” 39% of the food consumed in the UK are imports. Source: Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at the City University of London]. Not to mention many drugs, including Theresa May’s insulin. Do you still believe in a Hard Brexit? That’s the problem. Believers believe. They are not open to rational arguments. We can only hope that a majority will find their way back to common sense.
Beauty items at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
Official portrait of Jeremy Corbyn. Photo: Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament.
Article added on March 13, 2019 at 03:29 Ukrainian time.
