Speaking at a press conference in central London, Jeremy Corbyn brandished the document titled Northern Ireland Protocol: Unfettered Access To The UK Internal Market, and claimed it buried the Boris Johnson‘s insistence there would be no border checks between the UK and Northern Ireland after Brexit. The 15-page document, which appeared to be a slideshow prepared by the Treasury, claimed 98 percent of exporters would struggle to bear the costs. The Labour Party leader said page five of the document states: “There will be customs declarations and security checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.”
Mr Corbyn raged: “What we have here is a confidential report by Johnson’s own government, marked ‘official, sensitive’, that exposes the falsehoods that Boris Johnson has been putting forward,” he said.
“This is cold, hard evidence that categorically shows the impact a damaging Brexit deal would have on large parts of our country.”
He said the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal would be “disastrous for businesses and jobs all across the UK” and claimed the confidential report “confirms this”.
But at a Conservative Party general election campaign event shortly after Mr Corbyn made the claims, Mr Johnson hit back and rubbished them as “complete nonsense”.
Jeremy Corbyn presented what he claimed shows there will be customs checks (Image: GETTY)
I haven’t seen the document you’re referring to but that’s complete nonsense, and what I can tell you is that with the deal that we have we can come out as one whole UK
He said: “I haven’t seen the document you’re referring to but that’s complete nonsense.
“And what I can tell you is that with the deal that we have we can come out as one whole UK.”
Mr Johnson also urged voters to “believe him” and stressed: “There will be no goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland or from Northern Ireland to Great Britain because we are going to come out of the EU whole and entire, and that was the objective that we secured.
“It’s a fantastic deal that will enable us to get Brexit done and move forward.”
READ MORE: BREXIT LIVE: Corbyn brandishes ‘secret’ BOMBSHELL report on Brexit
The Labour leader claimed the report ‘exposes the falsehoods Boris Johnson has been putting forward’ (Image: PA)
The Tories said the document presented by Mr Corbyn was only an immediate assessment of the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal and represents a “flash” and incomplete analysis of what the obligations of the protocol might be.
Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly said: “Once again, Jeremy Corbyn is brandishing leaked documents that don’t back up his wild conspiracy theories.
“This is just another desperate attempt to distract from his refusal to take a position on the biggest issue of the day.
“He simply cannot be trusted. He won’t honour the result of the first referendum and now wants to fiddle a second referendum by changing the rules and allowing millions of EU nationals to cast ballots too.
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Boris Johnson rubbished the claims from Jeremy Corbyn as ‘complete nonsense’ (Image: PA)
James Cleverly also lashed out at the claims from the Labour leader (Image: GETTY)
“Labour have been exposed – they are planning to rig our whole democracy in a desperate bid to force us to stay in the EU.
“The Conservatives have negotiated a great new deal with the EU which takes the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, out of the EU.
“The choice is clear: Corbyn’s Labour, with a gridlocked hung parliament and the chaos of two more referendums, or a majority Conservative government that will end the uncertainty get Brexit done and unleash Britain’s potential.”
This is the second time Mr Corbyn has attempted to deflect attention over the past week by claiming to reveal firm evidence of wrongdoing by the Conservatives.
Previous election results vs projections for the 2019 election (Image: EXPRESS)
Last Friday, he employed the same tactic by claiming Labour had uncovered proof the Tories were planning to put the NHS “on the table” as part of post-Brexit trade deal talks between the UK and US.
But both Mr Johnson and Donald Trump rubbished the claims, with the US President even claiming he would not want the NHS even if it was served up on a “silver platter”.
The Prime Minister has continuously ridiculed the stance adopted by Mr Corbyn on Brexit, who has insisted a Labour Government would strike another exit deal with the EU to include a customs union.
Donald Trump and Boris Johnson have denied the NHS is on the table as part of a post-Brexit trade deal (Image: PA)
Labour would then hold a second referendum on whether Britons wanted to accept it, with Mr Corbyn himself vowing to remain neutral.
Mr Johnson added at today’s campaign event: “Have we sent out search parties to discover Jeremy Corbyn’s position on the EU?”
“If you want to get this thing done, if you want to the country to move forward, you’ve got to vote Conservative.”
