Corbyn calls for election if MPs vote down May’s Brexit deal

Jeremy Corbyn leader of opposition in England has told Prime Minister Theresa May that Labour MPs will vote against her Chequers plan unless she is willing to accept his proposal to keep Britain in a customs union and protect consumer standards and workers’ rights after Brexit.

The conditional offer came near the end of an hour long speech at the Labour party conference.

The Labour leader told delegates, “As it stands, Labour will vote against the Chequers plan – or whatever is left of it – and oppose leaving the EU with no deal” in the meaningful final vote promised by May after the Brexit talks conclude in November.

But he held out the possibility of supporting May – who is struggling to contain a rebellion against her Chequers plan from the right wing of her party – on his terms. “If you deliver a deal that includes a customs union and no hard border in Ireland, if you protect jobs, people’s rights at work and environmental and consumer standards, then we will support that sensible deal. A deal that would be backed by most of the business world and trade unions too,” he told delegates.

Corbyn concluded, “But if you can’t negotiate that deal then you need to make way for a party that can.”