Andrew Neil slams Labour's 'untenable' customs union position
The veteran BBC host told Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, Jeremy Corbyn’s long list of European Union divorce demands are completely “untenable”.
Ms Long-Bailey threw her party’s Brexit position into yet more chaos when she mimicked Boris Johnson and claimed Labour “wants to have our cake and eat it”.
The BBC Sunday Politics interview descended into bedlam when the senior Labour MP Neil challenged her on what Labour really want from Brexit.
Starting on the customs union, which Labour wants to maintain access or membership, Neil blast: “Are you in, or are you out?”
You want to stay members of the single market but not have the obligations that go with it
Ms Long-Bailey replied: “We want to maintain the benefits of the customs union while also being able to negotiate trade deals as we see fit.
“That will form part of the negotiations themselves, but we can’t cut our nose off to spite our face and come out of the customs union without any transitional arrangements whatsoever and send businesses over the edge of a cliff.”
This sent Neil into a frenzy, which led to him accusing the shadow business secretary of proposing a list of “untenable” demands.
He said: “But it seems like you do want to have your cake and eat it! You want to stay members of the single market but not have the obligations that go with it, you want to stay in the customs union but still be able to do free trade deals on your own, which is flies in the very face of the principle of the customs union.
Jeremy Corbyn: We are a government in waiting
“Your positions are untenable!”
Ms Long-Bailey hit back: “That’s the whole point of negotiations. Not to be untenable, but to negotiate the position.”
She said Labour’s goal is to “maintain the benefits we currently have as part of the customs union and the single market”.
“The machinery we use to do that, whether it’s through outside agreements or negotiating some form of amendment settlement as part of membership, that’s a moot point quite frankly. But we need to make sure that we have the same benefits,” The Labour MP concluded.
Last week, Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer travelled to Brussels to meet with the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
The Labour leader, who is a lifetime Arsenal fan, arrived in the Belgian capital flanked by his allies to try and sway Mr Barnier into a softer Brexit.
Mr Corbyn handed the Frenchman an Arsenal shirt with his name emblazoned on the back, with Mr Barnier returning the favour with a poster of Savoie, an area in the French Alps of which Mr Barnier has sat on the general council.
The hard-left leader said: “Labour is a government in waiting and we are ready to take up the responsibility for Brexit negotiations.
“Labour respects the referendum result and the decision to leave the European Union. But a Labour Brexit would look very different to the race-to-the-bottom tax haven backed by this Conservative Government.
“In contrast to the Conservative’s megaphone diplomacy, we will conduct relations with our European neighbours respectfully and in the spirit of friendship.”