Jeremy Corbyn has vowed unequivocally that Labour will fight to keep the UK in the European Union, arguing that he sees membership as a means of imposing tougher regulations and a new tax on the City of London.
Mr Corbyn’s promise that Labour will campaign against Brexit will come as a relief to many business leaders who feared that the new party leader might put himself at the head of a populist movement for the UK to quit the EU.
The veteran socialist MP was elected Labour leader last week, sparking fears that he might reverse his party’s pro-European policy. In a referendum in 1975, Mr Corbyn voted for the UK to leave the EU.
However, there will be concern about his vow that if he wins power, he will sign the UK up to the £50 billion (€68.5 billion) EU financial transaction tax – fiercely opposed by the City of London – and back tougher workers’ protections.
After days of confusion, Mr Corbyn wrote an opinion piece in the Financial Times to set out his EU policy in detail for the first time, declaring: "We will be in Europe to negotiate better protections for people and businesses, not to negotiate them away.
“Our shadow cabinet is clear that the answer to any damaging changes that [prime minister David] Cameron brings back from his renegotiation is not to leave the EU but to pledge to reverse those changes with a Labour government in 2020.”
Mr Corbyn hopes the FT article will settle once and for all the uncertainty that he has sown about his approach to Mr Cameron's in/out referendum, which could take place as soon as next year.
The Labour leader told a meeting of his MPs this week that he would not give Mr Cameron a “blank cheque”, hinting that he could support a Brexit if the prime minister watered down EU workers’ rights. Yesterday, however, Mr Corbyn’s office sent a briefing note to Labour MPs saying: “Labour will be campaigning in the referendum for the UK to stay in the European Union.”
In another sign of his softening position, the Labour leader has asked Pat McFadden, a pro-European Blairite, to continue as the party’s shadow minister for Europe.
In his article, Mr Corbyn called for fundamental EU reforms, including a rejection of austerity, stronger worker protection and a halt to “free market deregulation”. He also warned that an EU-US trade deal could represent “a race to the bottom”.– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015