In a stance that has drawn comparisons to Donald Trump’s America First speech from his inauguration, Jeremy Corbyn has set out what he believes to be the benefits of a a post-Brexit Britain at a rally in Birmingham on 24th July 2018.
The speech itself focused on manufacturing and was decidedly positive concerning Britain’s future as a nation that produces. I suppose many people consider this newsworthy as the Labour party’s official stance was to remain in The European Union and reform it from the inside, whilst acknowledging the problem the institutional body does have.
Supporters of Corbyn took to Twitter to voice dissent to this stance that sells a vision of Brexit as a positive development in Britain’s history. They cite the pound’s drastic dip and the suffering of UK businesses in the past year as proof that this is a naïve and romantic notion that is unlikely to become a reality.
Overall Jeremy Corbyn possibly wanted this speech to go down well in the Labour heartlands of the midlands and the north of England. Places his party lost votes in the previous elections that were extremely pro-leave when it came to the referendum.
With a party that is perhaps already fiercely divided as Brexit is a subject that isn’t an issue that one can simply slice down the middle as neither leave nor remain can be attributed to either side (the left or the right) of the political spectrum, this can be seen as a middle ground that acknowledges the pitfalls but tries to get the crux of the issue and make the best out of a situation that is happening.
Theresa May’s soft Brexit is another example of appeasement that has simply ended in even more ferocious dissent from her party and supporters. When trying to please everyone the leaders of both the main parties have ended up pleasing nobody. Making the best of a bad situation feels like a cop-out to those who wanted to avoid the situation altogether and those who did want it don’t want some semi-skimmed version of what they voted for.
This move shouldn’t shock many, though, as many have selective hearing when it comes to the Labour leader. Although the party agreed to be remaining rather than leave, the leader himself has been infamously critical of The EU over the years. Many point to his lacklustre campaigning to remain in it as an example of a man not fully committed to the party line.
Not a positive piece of news I’m afraid but remaining in the loop if not the European Union is important to stay on top of the negotiations and twists in the tale that continue to drag us in every direction with no end in sight. With the Labour party conference coming up this autumn, attendees are likely to be riled and therefore divided by his words this summer. It seems there are no right answers in this, the ceaseless task of this country’s present.
