We should stay in EU and improve it, says Jeremy Corbyn
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Version 0 of 1. Jeremy Corbyn has said he is “not a lover” of the European Union and called for it to change “dramatically” if the UK does stay in. Facing an audience of young voters on Sky News, the Labour leader said there was no “easy way back” if the country votes to quit. “If we remain, I believe Europe has got to change quite dramatically to something much more democratic, much more accountable and share our wealth and improve our living standards and our working conditions all across the whole continent,” he said. “I’m not a lover of the European Union. I think it’s a rational decision. We should stay in order to try and improve but does that change my views on points I’ve raised on public ownership of railways and things like that? Absolutely not.” Corbyn, a long-time critic of the EU who voted against membership of the European Economic Community in 1975, has faced accusations that his campaigning for the remain camp has been lukewarm. Asked if he would shoulder some of the blame if Britain votes to quit, he replied: “I’m not going to take blame for people’s decisions. There will be a decision made on Thursday. I’m hoping there is going to be a remain vote, there may well be a remain vote, there may well be a leave vote.” Told he did not sound “too keen” on the EU, he replied: “Whatever the result, we have got to work with it.” David Cameron insisted it would be “wrong and foolish and unwise to leave the single market altogether” and said that quitting the EU would be “irreversible”. Defending the tone of the campaign, he told the BBC: “I think there are real risks and I don’t for one minute hold back from talking about those risks.” Both sides of the referendum have faced criticism over the way they have responded to the killing of Jo Cox. Ukip leader Nigel Farage accused Cameron of a “despicable” attempt to use the Labour’s MP’s death to boost his chance of winning Thursday’s EU referendum, an accusation the prime minister fiercely denied. Remain campaign chief Will Straw was attacked after it emerged that he had told team members “we need to recognise that people have been pulled up short by Jo Cox’s death”. Leave.EU chief Arron Banks, meanwhile, defended his decision to carry out polling on the impact the death may have had on voting intentions in the referendum. The Ukip donor told LBC that he did not believe the move was tasteless, adding: “We were hoping to see what the effect of the event was.” George Osborne said he believes leave is losing support because Farage has “taken over” the campaign. The chancellor told LBC: “I have got lots of people I know very well in the leave campaign and they didn’t want to start off this campaign where they got to the position with only a couple of days to go to polling where Nigel Farage appeared to be their principal spokesman. “But they have allowed him to take it over. They have allowed him to just talk endlessly about foreigners and immigration and of course there are concerns about immigration but it is not the only issue at stake in this referendum. “I think he misjudges the mood of the nation.” Osborne said that even a narrow victory for remain on 23 June would mean the Europe question would be “resolved” for a generation. Asked if he would suspend trading on the FTSE in the event of possible market turmoil following a Brexit vote, Osborne replied: “The Bank of England and the Treasury, Governor Carney and myself, we have of course discussed contingency plans, but the sensible thing is to keep those secret and make sure you are well prepared for whatever happens.” |