LONDON, Nov 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
pressed opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to tell
voters in next month’s election whether he backs leaving the EU.
Johnson’s main rival in the snap Dec 12 poll has struggled with
defining his position on Brexit ever since Britons narrowly triggered the
divorce in a 2016 referendum.
Labour’s new official stance is to negotiate a more EU-friendly withdrawal
agreement with Brussels and then let voters decide whether to back it or
simply stay in the EU.
But Corbyn refuses to say whether he would then campaign for his own deal. Most top members in the party oppose Brexit and have said they would campaign to remain in the bloc.
Johnson’s Conservatives are trying to seize on Labour’s divisions on the
defining issue of UK politics.
“Now the time has come for you to come clean,” Johnson told Corbyn in an a letter released by his office.
“Do you believe the results of the 2016 referendum should be respected and
the UK should leave the EU?” Johnson asked.
“Would you commit to campaign for your ‘deal’ in a second referendum?”
Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Sarmer said that letting Britons
decide what to do about Brexit was a “practical way to break the impasse”.
“It’s not for the politicians… it’s for the people to decide,” said Starmer, who is one of the senior Labour members opposed to Brexit.
Labour is trailing the Conservatives by 11 percentage points in a poll of
polls compiled by Britain Elects.
But the field also includes smaller pro-EU opposition parties that could
potentially form a post-election coalition with Labour — if they ever agree
on who should lead the government.
The anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats came in second in European Parliament
polls in May that Britain was forced to take part in because of Brexit
delays.
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson will formally launch her party’s campaign on
Tuesday in London.
Her party is currently running in third place with around around 18
percent of the vote.
But she firmly firmly refuses to back Corbyn — the official leader of the
opposition — and wants to become prime minister herself.
The Brexit Party of populist Nigel Farage has 11 percent and will pile
pressure on Johnson during the campaign from the anti-European right. — NNN-AGENCIES
