Senior Labour MEP caught trying to ‘sabotage’ Brexit in a ‘sneaky’ plot by trying to re-write EU reports slammed by Iain Duncan Smith
Richard Corbett, deputy leader of the party’s MEPs, has tried to re-write official reports preparing for Britain to leave
A SENIOR Labour Remainer has hatched a “sneaky” plot which could open the door to a second EU referendum.
Richard Corbett, deputy leader of the party’s MEPs, has tried to re-write official reports preparing for Britain to leave.
In one document about the EU’s future set-up, he inserted words saying Brussels “should not stand in the way of any reconsideration by the UK of its intended departure”.
He has also submitted a wave of amendments to proposals for post-Brexit changes to the European Parliament.
Mr Corbett attempted to add the word “likely” before the words “decision to leave the EU”.
And in another motion which stressed the wish of voters must be respected, he re-worded it to stress “taking account of the 48.1 per cent who wished to remain”.
Furious Eurosceptics accused Mr Corbett of trying to sabotage the June 23 referendum result by paving the way to overturn it or trigger a second vote.
Die-hard Remainer Mr Corbett, 61, insists Brexit is “not a settled matter” and has called for a re-think.
And he says Labour should not be “bullied” into “meekly acquiescing with a political and economic catastrophe”.
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But former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith said: “Richard Corbett is not only ignoring the will of the British people but he seems to think he speaks for the whole Labour party on Brexit.
“It’s clear from his attempts to amend the legislation that intend to do what we always suspected - and keep demanding more and more referendums until we get the decision he wants.
“Jeremy Corbyn must distance himself from these amendments and reject any further changes, to prove the Labour party accepts the result of the referendum without equivocation.”
Fellow Tory MP Dominic Raab, a former justice minister, added: “The public will be shocked to learn that Labour’s deputy leader in Brussels is telling the EU it doesn’t need to respect the referendum result, and is manoeuvring to engineer its reversal.
“If Jeremy Corbyn wants to backslide on Brexit, he should at least be honest about it, not engage in sneaky wrecking tactics.”
Mr Corbett’s his suggested amendments to draft reports by the European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt have now been rejected.
A spokesman for Mr Corbett insisted: “The amendments were simply to give the correct legal situation, as confirmed by the High Court, that the actual decision to leave has to be made by Parliament. The referendum was, in legal terms, advisory.”