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George Kendall

If we make Jeremy Corbyn PM, we’ll leave with no deal

By George Kendall | Fri 4th October 2019 - 10:25 am
Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn often tell me not to quote the Murdoch media. They forgot their own advice when they retweeted a false claim by Sky News. Sky’s Jon Craig implied that Jo Swinson was the only leader opposed to Corbyn as leader of a government of national unity. Yet Anna Soubry the leader of Change UK was at the meeting, and she is resolutely opposed to Corbyn, as are most of the 34 independents. So many that, even if the Lib Dems did support him, Corbyn wouldn’t have a majority.
Nonetheless, the Labour and SNP leaderships constantly push this attack line. As these attacks seem to be worrying a few Lib Dems, let’s consider what would happen if we did what they say.

Corbyn’s policy is to extend article 50, then have a general election. If this results in a Labour government, he would negotiate his own version of Brexit and then have a referendum. Of course, if Johnson won that election, we would instantly leave the EU with no deal. That this doesn’t worry Corbyn raises all sorts of uncomfortable questions.

Ellie Mae O’Hagan, no friend of ours, makes an important point in this tweet. If the Lib Dems installed Corbyn as interim leader, it would devastate the chances of hundreds of Lib Dems trying to unseat Tory MPs. Forget Chuka Ummuna replacing Mark Field, Luciana Berger replacing Mike Freer, Phillip Lee replacing John Redwood. What O’Hagan fails to point out is that, if the Lib Dems committed political suicide in this way, the Tories would be all but guaranteed a majority in the coming election and so the country would almost certainly leave with no deal.

So why are Labour and the SNP laying into the Lib Dems? Why claim our insistence on a compromise candidate for PM will increase the chance of a hard brexit? They ignored us for years, why attack us now?

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