Britain’s Labour Party is staying put on Brexit.
The country’s biggest opposition party on Monday voted against an outright support for remaining in the European Union ahead of the next general election.
The grassroots motion to “back remain now” was voted down at Labour’s annual conference in Brighton, a boost to the party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Instead Corbyn’s proposal, to postpone the decision on how to campaign in a second referendum until after a general election, passed a vote to become party policy.
Corbyn has been pushing for Labour to postpone the decision on how to campaign.
“I want to recognize that there are people in Britain who have voted leave, and remain, but nevertheless all suffer the same problems of economic austerity and falling of living standards because of this government,” Corbyn told CNN.
Corbyn declined to say whether he was in favor of remaining in the union, but made it clear he wants to avoid crashing out of the bloc without a deal – an option that economists, the Bank of England and even the government itself said would damage the UK economy.
“My proposal is that a Labour government would, once we’ve got no deal completely off the table, would then discuss with the EU what a leave option would be … and put it alongside an offer to remain in the European Union and seek to reform it as well,” he said.
He campaigned against Brexit in the 2016 referendum, even though he has been known for decades as a staunch critic of the EU.
The result of the vote on Monday means the Labour Party will not campaign to remain in the EU during the next election, instead promising voters it will negotiate a new Brexit deal which will then be put to public in a second referendum alongside the option to remain.
The Labour Party would decide what it will back in a special conference held after a general election.
But the divisions in the Labour Party remained stark on Monday with a group of Labour delegates shouting at the conference chair from the floor to hold a second ballot vote on the remain position.
And some prominent members, including several shadow cabinet officers, have said they will still campaign for remain.
“I do not believe this decision reflects the views of the overwhelming majority of Labour members who desperately want to stop Brexit. Labour IS a Remain party,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a tweet. “I will continue campaigning with @LondonLabour to give the public the final say and stop Brexit.”
Labour has said in the past it would support a referendum that would give the British public a chance to vote on the Brexit deal that was negotiated by former Prime Minister Theresa May.
However, that deal now appears dead in the water. The Parliament rejected it several times, eventually leaving May with no other option than to resign.
She was replaced with Boris Johnson, who said he wants to re-negotiate the deal, threatening that if the EU doesn’t agree to changes, the UK will leave without a deal.
However, making the situation even more complicated, Parliament has passed a bill that forces Johnson to ask for an extension if no deal is agreed before the end of October.
