Corbyn’s team split over soft Brexit

Shadow cabinet will clash this week over Norway-style deal or second referendum

Michael Savage and Toby Helm
Sat 23 Mar 2019 20.58 GMT

Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet is set to clash again over Brexit this week, with supporters of a second referendum concerned that the Labour leadership will opt to facilitate a soft Brexit. With senior Labour figures openly calling for another public vote at the anti-Brexit march in London on Saturday, other influential MPs believe Corbyn’s inner circle is actually warming to a Norway-style Brexit that would see Britain leave the EU, but remain closely aligned to it.

Tensions between Labour and its pro-Remain activists are already high after the party released a tweet on Friday evening asking if supporters had any “big weekend plans” and called on them to go out leafleting for May’s local elections.

The party’s official position is to explore all possibilities to resolve the Brexit impasse, including a public vote if other avenues prove impossible. The position has allowed Labour to keep its options open amid widespread support for a second referendum among party members. However, a plan to hold a series of indicative Commons votes this week on possible Brexit options is set to force Labour to decide whether it can allow its MPs to back a soft Brexit.

A previous Commons vote over a Norway-style soft Brexit last year resulted in a huge row within Labour. Jeremy Corbyn told his MPs to abstain, but 75 MPs voted for the idea, while 15 voted against. Six quit their Labour roles as a result of the vote.

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