Brexit news latest: Jeremy Corbyn refuses to say if he wants UK to stay in or leave EU

Jeremy Corbyn has avoided answering whether he wants the UK to leave or remain in the EU, saying that it would be up to the British public to decide. 

Appearing on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, the Labour leader was pressed on whether he was pro-Leave or pro-Remain.

He told the show: “We’re going to put that choice to the British people, and they will make their decision.

“We’ll negotiate within three months a credible, sensible option of Leave, and put that alongside Remain in a referendum.” 

Asked again about his personal view, he said: “I want a close relationship with the EU in the future.

“We will put that decision to the British people, and I will abide by that decision. That’s the view we’ve come to in the Labour Party.” 

Mr Marr again asked him to clarify his stance, to which he replied: “The answer is, as I’ve explained to you, that we will negotiate a credible option of leaving, put that alongside Remain, and the British people would make their mind up on that basis, and we will discuss this obviously when we’ve concluded those initial negotiations which will start immediately we take office.”

When it was put to him that he was unable say whether he would prefer the UK in or out the EU, Mr Corbyn said: “I can say this – that we have to have a close trading relationship with Europe, we won’t crash out into the arms of Donald Trump, we won’t be doing sweetheart trade deals with the USA, and we won’t be wrecking our National Health Service in the process as the Prime Minister is planning to do.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell praised Mr Corbyn after the appearance on BBC, tweeting: “We just saw a Prime Minister on Marr and his name is Jeremy Corbyn.

“Displaying the confident, serious and knowledgeable leadership this country needs.”

Mr Corbyn told Mr Marr his version of Leave is “pro-trade relationship”, adding that the customs union is a way of protecting the Good Friday Agreement.

“One of the many problems with the Prime Minister’s approach to this is that it does undermine the principles of the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.

Asked about whether he would have a threshold that would give him legitimacy in another referendum, Mr Corbyn said: “I think you have to hold a referendum on the basis that those who wish to take part in it take part in it.

“I think what I would like to see in any future referendum is a very strict limit on spending on both sides, and also the ability to, how should I put it, check on the facts being offered by both sides in that referendum campaign.

“The problem with the last referendum campaign, there wasn’t any real examination of that.”

Asked if the Labour manifesto will say that free movement of people will end when the UK leaves the EU, Mr Corbyn said: “You’ll have to wait until Thursday to see the wording of it.”

He added: “A lot of European Union nationals have made their homes in this country and made a massive contribution to our society. A lot of British people live in different parts of the European Union.

“And many of those families have been through unbelievable levels of stress, so they absolutely must have the right to remain and be able to bring their families here.”

Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab appeared on Andrew Marr’s show, saying that he does not think it is remotely likely that the UK will leave the EU without a deal. 

Mr Raab insisted the UK is “not going to align ourselves to EU rules”, saying in response to what would happen if the UK cannot get what it wants for fishing: “There’s going to be a negotiation, of course there are going to be compromises on all sides.”

Pressed if the UK would compromise on fishing, Mr Raab told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One: “No, no, we’re going to be an independent coastal state but we’ll take the best interests of the UK on board, we’re not going to be locked in to a set of EU rules which are targeted and tailored towards the best interests of the Europeans, and actually it’ll be a compromise.”