Labour wants a second Brexit referendum
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has demanded a second Brexit referendum and says he will campaign to remain in the EU. Both opponents and supporters have repeatedly accused the party of not adopting a clear position on Brexit for fear of alienating voters. But in the elections to the European parliament Labour lost votes to parties that oppose leaving the EU. What impact will this clear stance have?
Brexit dynamic virtually unstoppable
The Süddeutsche Zeitung examines how realistic the idea of a second referendum is:
“Johnson will presumably become the new Tory leader and prime minister. Then he'll force a quick Brexit, if necessary without a deal with Brussels. This dynamic is virtually unstoppable. If they want to break it, Corbyn and Labour will have to throw themselves passionately behind the campaign for a second referendum and trigger a broad popular movement together with the Liberals, the Greens, moderate Conservatives, trade unionists and business leaders. Only if Corbyn really wants this, and if he succeeds, will he perhaps be able to compensate for past mistakes.”
An attempt to heal rifts within the party
The Labour leader is trying to maintain his position as leader of the party, observes Gazeta Wyborcza:
“On Tuesday Corbyn did what he had to do: in an official statement he announced that Labour would support a second referendum and the campaign to remain in the EU. One reason he did this is because he can't afford a war with the trade unions at a time when three high-ranking members of the House of Lords have left the party because its leadership has failed to react to anti-Semitic remarks made by party members. One of them, the former party secretary Lord Triesman, called the party 'institutionally anti-Semitic' and even referred to its leader directly as an 'anti-Semite'. ”