MSM need to learn to read press releases
The Establishment media are buzzing with ‘breaking news’ that Labour has tabled an amendment backing a ‘public vote’ on a new referendum.
THIS IS NOT THE CASE.
Labour has issued a press release that the media have either misread or are intentionally misinterpreting.
The full release reads:
From: Labour Party Press Office press@labour.org.uk
Sent: 25 February 2019 17:27
To: Labour Party Press Office press@labour.org.uk
Subject: NEWS FROM LABOUR: Labour to table amendment to make its credible alternative plan the UK’s Brexit negotiating position
Labour to table amendment to make its credible alternative plan the UK’s Brexit negotiating position
Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, will tomorrow (Tuesday 26 February) seek to enshrine Labour’s five Brexit demands in law by tabling an amendment to the government’s Brexit motion.
Labour’s amendment would force the government to make its credible alternative plan the Government’s negotiating objectives.Labour’s five demands for the Brexit deal are:
· A permanent and comprehensive customs union with the EU;
· close alignment with the Single Market underpinned by shared institutions and obligations;
· dynamic alignment on rights and protections;
· commitments on participation in EU agencies and funding programmes, including in areas such as the environment, education, and industrial regulation; and
· unambiguous agreements on the detail of future security arrangements, including access to the European Arrest Warrant and vital shared databases.Jeremy Corbyn will tell a meeting of Labour’s Parliamentary Labour Party this evening that the party will back the Cooper-Letwin amendment to take ‘No Deal’ off the table and announce that Labour will also put forward or support an amendment in favour of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit.
Speaking at tonight’s meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, will say:
“The Prime Minister is recklessly running down the clock, in an attempt to force MPs to choose between her botched deal and a disastrous No Deal. We cannot and will not accept.
“Last week, after our visit to talk to EU officials and leaders in Brussels and Madrid, no one can be in any doubt Labour’s alternative Brexit plan is serious and credible. We are convinced our alternative, which puts jobs and living standards first, could command support in the House of Commons, bring people who voted Leave and Remain together, and be negotiated with the EU.
“That’s why we will be putting down an amendment in parliament this week setting out Labour’s plan: for a comprehensive customs union with a UK say; close alignment with the single market; guarantees on rights and standards; protection for Britain’s role in EU agencies; and a security agreement which guarantees access to the European arrest warrant and vital shared databases. And we will be calling for legislation to underpin this mandate.
“We will also be backing the Cooper-Letwin amendment to rule out a No Deal outcome. One way or another, we will do everything in our power to prevent No Deal and oppose a damaging Tory Brexit based on Theresa May’s overwhelmingly rejected deal.
“That’s why, in line with our conference policy, we are committed to also putting forward or supporting an amendment in favour of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The full text of Labour’s amendment, to be tabled tomorrow, reads:
That this House instructs Ministers
(a) to negotiate with the EU for changes to the Political Declaration to secure:
i. a permanent and comprehensive customs union with the EU;
ii. close alignment with the single market underpinned by shared institutions and obligations;
iii. dynamic alignment on rights and protections;
iv. commitments on participation in EU agencies and funding programmes, including in areas such as the environment, education, and industrial regulation; and
v. unambiguous agreement on the detail of future security arrangements, including access to the European Arrest Warrant and vital shared databases;
(b) to introduce primary legislation to give statutory effect to this negotiating mandate;
THE AMENDMENT DOES NOT MENTION ANOTHER VOTE.
The press release does mention Labour’s intention – in line with its Conference policy to put forward an amendment if all other options to prevent a Tory no-deal Brexit disaster are exhausted.
Labour’s position therefore remains exactly unchanged compared to this 29 January amendment already tabled – which was defeated because the centrists would not back it:
The ‘breaking news’ in the mainstream media is nothing more than an Establishment attempt to reinforce the position of the ‘quitter group’ and of Tom Watson, by claiming that a – non-existent – change is because of their actions.
No referendum motion has been tabled. None can be tabled for at least two weeks – and no referendum could take place until at least August even if one were moved immediately. And Labour’s position is the same as it was.
Spread the word.
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Yes and no.
The position hasn’t changed indeed: referendum as last resort.
But it did change in the way that we reached the point that everything else failed, so a referendum is being one of the few positions that might get through.
Still I wonder as an EU citizen having been here for decades, whether I can remain here or tolerate to be a second class citizen. I have worked all my life paid my taxes, have only retired about 6 months ago….. I do not want to live in a hostile environment, that hates everything foreign.
You won’t receive any hostility from me.
I voted Leave (as did millions of others) but you’re entitled to stay. I hope you have a happy life here. It’s your country.
None of my reasons for voting Leave had to do with xenophobia or racism. I voted Leave because of things like Article 106 and the fact we can never vote out of the EU. (The French want to leave but Macron is denying them a vote.)
Thanks to Corbyn it looks like we’re not leaving anyway.
I’m sure that’s true on your part, loftkarlsson.
But Sabine has a significant point about the increasingly inward and backward-looking nature of the country at large. as it retreats to the fictional past that animates much Brexit sentiment.
I wonder where the Guardian got its direct quotes from?
“One way or another, we will do everything in our power to prevent no deal and oppose a damaging Tory Brexit based on Theresa May’s overwhelmingly rejected deal,” he said.
“That’s why, in line with our conference policy, we are committed to also putting forward or supporting an amendment in favour of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country.”
It is unclear whether the Labour frontbench is prepared to table its own amendment for a second referendum or whether it will back one tabled by other parties or backbenchers.
Meanwhile, Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer tweeted: “This week Labour will put its alternative plan for a vote in the House of Commons.
“If Parliament rejects our plan, then Labour will deliver on the promise we made at our annual conference and support a public vote.”
https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1100090866646110210
I was about to post that link… got it from the Momentum twitter page which is always ‘interesting’.
It seems to me the fight for control of Labour policy is not just between the old neoliberal same olds and the revived class politics which Corbyn himself represents…
That’s right, Maria. Labour is struggling to become something different, and is besieged by both the old right and the old left – neither of which have got into the 21st century (and possibly not even the 20th).
Menwhile the 18th century – represented by the ERG agenda walks away with it.
“Menwhile the 18th century – represented by the ERG agenda walks away with it.”
I don’t agree… the establishment has it. BINO was the closest Brexit that would ever be allowed. EURef was called out of the blue in the context of big society – ‘bring about change through a period of chaos’… Cameron called it remember.
I’m not sure I like the 21C liberal, Mil-met Labour myself… seem pretty set in their ways already… its our way or you’re a racist, bigot, anti Semite or just old, uneducated, thick, decayed and useless to the cause… except for your vote of course.
The media is clearly trying to cloud the issue, hoping to take the heat off Theresa May. Then no doubt will claim Labour are at six and sevens and don’t know what they are doing.
FAKE NEWS again, but with real intent to confuse people as to what Labour really stands for.
The heat is off May partly by virtue of the current ambiguity (to put it politely) of the Labour position. She was saved last time by Labour members supporting her against the Cooper amendment.
Sad but true.
“A permanent and comprehensive customs union with the EU;
· close alignment with the Single Market underpinned by shared institutions and obligations;
· dynamic alignment on rights and protections;
· commitments on participation in EU agencies and funding programmes, including in areas such as the environment, education, and industrial regulation; and
· unambiguous agreements on the detail of future security arrangements, including access to the European Arrest Warrant and vital shared databases.”
Errrr … Anyone with a minimal level of literacy and political awareness recognises that this means, in effect, ‘Stay in the EU’.
It’s not difficult to work it out. All the rest is empty bullshit and tokenism. Just admit it and take advice rooted on Planet Eath : tell it as it is rather than shadowing the ERG’s agenda under the illusion that it’s progressive.
If this is the case and Fake news why hasn’t labour put out another press release to clarify. MSM are going mad.
I think that Keir Starmer’s tweet (linked to above) + the direct quotes in the Guardian confirm it isn’t fake news.
No comrades we need to give JC a chance.
‘Oh dear what can the matter be.
A small group of lions surrounded by donkeys surrounded by lions like you and me,
We need to think and draw on socialist strategy.
Then to leave the Neo-Liberal EC!’
The main stream media are trying to create news rather than reporting on actual events again.
The only vote that will bring the changes the country is crying out for is a general election. Labour remains committed to pushing for an election first and foremost.
Since the original referendum all other issues have been forgotten by the media and some MP’s. It feels like the government stopped running the country as soon as we voted to leave the EU. Instead of investing in education to ensure that UK students had the skills required to compete with industries around the world and deliver the skills needed to keep the services the country needs running, everything domestic has been left to stagnate. The same goes for healthcare services. Many are so busy looking at the EU they are unable to see what is right under the noses?
The Tory Government, has an inability to come up with a viable plan to rescue education, the NHS, and most other issues. These have been swept under the carpet as many MPs and the whole main stream media circus are consumed by Brexit.
Most people strive for a work-life balance. The main stream media barely mentions the government’s policies of trying to bribe people into jobs with golden hellos and other parties into agreeing to vote with it for bribes. All most people want is a job that pays a decent wage so they can enjoy a decent standards of living.
This was what the last Labour manifesto had and any updated manifesto will reflect the same.
Corbyn remains the leader because he understands what the real issues the country faces are. No other leader of any other political party and none of those MPs complaining about Corbyn have clearly demonstrated an understanding for all of the issues this country faces.
If by some miracle this government does come back with a viable way forward with the revised relationship with the EU, (which is highly doubtful) than any vote on it should run alongside a general election.
Having 1 or 100 votes on the same issue is not going to resolve everything else.
Who cares what the MSM report-Jeremy’s played a blinder here by making the announcement now:
1) 3 Tories now splintered who must support Cooper/Letwin, as with the nine nonetities.
2) Cabinet split completely, further down the line other Tories may well support it reflecting that split.
3) May just paints herself into a corner every time he tries to help.
4) If a 2nd ref comes, think how many 18-20 yo who were excluded from the first one will vote & how they might vote.
5) And, since that first ref over 3 MILLION EU citizens resident here are mow able to vote-how might they vote?
Barry Gardiner was correct from the start on the ‘5 tests’ that were designed to ensure that no Brexit could actually be supported and thereby the referendum result would end up being opposed by Labour. This is what we are now seeing. It is political suicide by Corbyn, May will now be tempted to call a GE on her Brexit or no Brexit at all, millions of working class votes will be lost, Farage will be rolling in hay, May will get her majority at last, and Corbyn will be… gone.
Watch Labour skyrocket in the opinion polls.
You are utterly clueless, if Labour stab Brexit in the back then Labour will be finished in its working class heartlands, and I say that as a LP member for more than three decades. The only groups that will ‘skyrocket’ will be those led by Farage or worse. The victory of the Blairite support of the EU in the Party over the socialist opposition to it will mark the beginning of the end.
James Martin 25/02/2019 at 9:52
All the available evidence would indicate the opposite, it’s time you woke up to the fact that you are part of an ever decreasing minority.
BETRAYED!
I’ve washed my hands of Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.
loftkarlsson 25/02/2019 at 8:43 pm
All the polls and academic surveys have consistently indicated that the vast majority of Labour Members and voters support a second referendum and enabling Brexit would damage Labour far more than supporting a 2nd referendum.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/25/labour-aids-tory-brexit-destroyed
The jobs lost to Brexit and the havoc it is already wreaking in government are staples of the news, but only in the past week has there been serious talk about how it will reconfigure politics. Yet one of the greatest risks is that Labour will chuck away its position as the most interesting venture in mainstream European politics, merely to tie itself to the back bumper of a hard-right juggernaut……………….
Labour should get behind a second referendum. Leave voters would not punish Labour at the next election anywhere near as badly as its remain base, according to polling from the TSSA transport workers’ union that has been presented to John McDonnell and others in the past three weeks. Just 36% of Labour leave voters rank Brexit in the top three topics they care about. For Labour remainers, that shoots up to 60%. The TSSA briefing notes: “If [Labour] fails to oppose Brexit … there is every indication that it will be far more damaging to the party’s electoral fortunes than the Iraq war.” Its Scottish MPs would face wipeout, while in London there would be heavy losses.
I think Chakraborrty is correct in his analysis :
“one of the greatest risks is that Labour will chuck away its position as the most interesting venture in mainstream European politics, merely to tie itself to the back bumper of a hard-right juggernaut.”
… and, one should add, hand the initiative to the Squitters and Underminers.
Basic politics. f there is a ‘deal’ it will be seen as May’s deal, and Labour will be seen as an irrelevance.
There’s no treasure under the palm tree on Brexit Island.
Exit poll of the 23/6/17.
Remain to win at 55%
What happened next? Your belief in polls will be your undoing. Ask yourself what has actiactu changed on the streets, where the votes come from.
Be prepared for unforseen circumstances!
Were you ever a fully committed supporter of JC?
Support in a democratic context is never unquestioning.
Bloody mess totally created by the monster raving tories
I know SB reported recently on Joan Ryan using LP data, but I wasn’t aware that she has been reported to the Information Commissioner:
https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/news/102020/labour-report-rebel-mp-joan-ryan-information
Ryan vehemently denies it of course, whilst Chris Leslie accused the LP of slinging mud at the breakaway group! I mean why would anyone even mention the slurs – as the Guardian did – when it is of course totally absurd that the LP would falsely report Ryan to the Commissioner. Oh, I know, because THEY know that the media WILL report THEIR responses AND, as such, muddy the waters.
In the Guardian’s coverage of the issue they say the following:
The latest row underlines the increasingly bitter relationship between the Labour leadership and the eight MPs…..
Oh, right, of course, if someone breaks the law and accesses information they know they have no right to do, then obviously it could only be ‘bitterness’ that prompted the LP to report the person concerned to the Information Commissioner.
The Guardian becomes more like the Sun with every week that passes!
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/20/breakaway-mp-tried-to-access-labour-supporter-data-party-sources-claim
the screenshot of Sky News on your article says ‘Labour announce backing for second referendum’. No one is saying they have already tabled it, just that they will do so at the appropriate time. You are less accurate on the MSM on Brexit because you are trying to spin your own agenda reflecting that of Milne and Murray.
I was pretty shocked at the BBC headline re this then recognised how the BBC in my opinion had lost all sense of impartiality (if they ever really had it – in the 1926 General Strike for example it wouldn’t allow a speech by the then Labour Leader and even the Archbishop of Canterbury appealing for negotiations) and it again in my view has been trotting out US daily Goebells propaganda on Venezeula – the latest insult from the Right Wing US Barbarians is to steal our words – they said to the Maduro Govt – the World is watching you but perhaps to the persistent US interferers in other more democratic countries – the world is actually watching Right Wing Barbarian You!
With this EC issue, we need to trust JC.
‘Oh dear, what can the matter be.
A small group of lions surrounded by donkeys surrounded by lions like you and me.
But we can win with socialist strategy.
And leave the Neo-Liberal EC.’
Solidarity!
Iain Dale, LBC rent-a-mouth and failed Tory candidate, claims on Newsnight “Corbyn about to be monstered on antisemitism tonight” in vain attempt to deflect attention from Tory cabinet suicide pact.
The assumption about the Kyle-Wilson amendment seems to be that Remain will be on the ballot and that it will win. So assuming that, what happens if Leave voters win and we are saddled with the most appalling May Withdrawal Agreement that was rejected by 230, the biggest defeat in Parliamentary history? This seems to me to be a really lousy idea.
syzygysue 26/02/2019 at 12:54 am
Given the change in demographics combined with poll results it appears to be a reasonably safe bet that people would vote to reject May’s deal.. It would only need an average of c1000 voters per constituency to change their mind in order to reverse the result
If the UK electorate are stupid enough to vote for May’s deal then I guess we’d all have to accept that, its democracy.
You may find this of interest
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/b4b/pages/857/attachments/original/1543940050/MRP3_red_online.pdf?1543940050
IIRC it was a ‘reasonably safe’ bet that Remain would win in 2016 … and according to pollsters, the ‘reasonably safe’ bet now is 52% Remain 48% Leave which is pretty much the same as June 2016.
As you say ‘If the UK electorate are stupid enough to vote for May’s deal then I guess we’d all have to accept that, its democracy.’ ….but … but what about the fact that the electorate has already voted to leave.
syzygysue 26/02/2019 at 10:40 am ·
“….but … but what about the fact that the electorate has already voted to leave.”
I would have thought that was obvious, they can cast their vote again. Whether they choose to vote the same way they did in 2016 or change their vote would be their democratic choice. At least they will be voting on something definitive rather than a vague nebulas dream. Why is that a problem?
85% of MPs were elected on manifestos which stated that if elected they would respect the referendum result. This was the case for all Labour MPs – defectors included. Holding a second referendum with Remain on the ballot paper is a BETRAYAL of that manifesto commitment. Whose slogan was “Honest Politics”?
https://www.thefullbrexit.com/cliff-edge
Correct. It is a massive betrayal.
The establishment wants to overturn the EU Referendum result. If we rejoin the EU we’ll never have another chance to leave. Never.
We’ll be trapped in the EU like the French are and we’ll be forced to endure not just austerity from the Tories but austerity from the EU too.
I think that you confuse the terms ‘betrayal’ and ‘voting’
No decision is immutable in a democracy – particularly a result that produces a split minority outcome.
Maybe I’m missing something. The HOC has already voted against any legislation for a public vote on a deal and I imagine the chances remain slim, the next time round. The first time a Corbyn amendment proposed a public vote, he was complimented by several posters on this site for his strategy. What’s new?
Was the 2nd referendum amendment that was defeated a standalone amendment or was it tagged onto another amendment that the Tories would find impossible to vote for, I think that’s the point you’ve missed.
Yes, that could be an important difference, except I think the next amendment (if we get that far) is embedded, in a sense, in something equally impossible for the Tories, e.g. Labour’s Brexit proposal and the parliamentary maths re a second ref. What we do know for sure is that the leadership are damned if they do and damned if they don’t …
paulo 26/02/2019 at 5:19 pm · ·
“I think the next amendment (if we get that far) is embedded, in a sense, in something equally impossible for the Tories”
My understanding is that they will be separate amendments. Unless things have changed, it seems like the Peter Kyle amendment is a favorite for the 2nd referendum.
If however you are right and they do lump it in with another amendment as you describe then I think that the majority of Labour members and voters who want a 2nd vote would regard that as a gross betrayal of their trust.
I trust the Labour Party will not follow the 7 Dwarfs +++ & demand a 2nd Referendum aka ‘the Great Stab in the Back’. The original proposal was made by Tim Farron, but it will only prove Chuka Ummuna right. The most important & relevant fact that MSM will not emphasise is their links to Labour Friends of Israel. The Lib Dems is the natural home for Blairite MPs, but they must not take Socialism with them.
The ‘Big Betrayal’ started when Blair removed Clause IV & would be completed if & when Tim Farron’s proposal is ever adopted. I am a bit fussy about who I will follow….Keir Starmer & the 7 Dwarfs would lead us into oblivion. Labour should beware of Public Schoolboys.
Brexit is not just about leaving Europe or penalising its people, but about controls; accountability & how we are governed. It is about the Banksters in the European Central Bank; the International Monetary Fund & the unelected European Commission. The European Union is a Failing Project; even Germany is in recession & the euro has problems. The British economy would be in even more trouble had we joined the euro. I would not choose to follow Macron or Merkel.
Great Britain has advantages over all other economies in Europe. We have oil; coal; tidal & wind power & established trade routes all over a world that speaks our language & enjoys our culture. What we lack are efficient managers & politicians. I thought Jeremy Corbyn could be a good start…….but watch your back.
P.S. ” Labour should beware of Public Schoolboys.”
Sorry, Steve – are you dissing the Leader’s key advisor?
” a 2nd Referendum aka ‘the Great Stab in the Back’.”
That’s a bit neurotic.
I think it’s actually a *3rd* referendum we’re talking about. The idea of a succession has already been validated.
RH – If you haven’t already watched it I strongly recommend that you watch tonight’s episode of
BBC2’s MASH REPORT. The central theme of tonight’s show was Brexit, I can practically guarantee you’ll enjoy it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bpywz8
@ SteveH A referendum between May’s deal and Remain is the choice between being in the EU with a vote or being locked into the EU without a vote. Neither is a Leave vote and unilaterally overturns the result of the 2016 vote.
I have posted on here many times that my preference would be for a 3 option vote using an STV system.
The options would be
Stay in the EU
Accept whichever deal had been negotiated
Leave without a deal
I have no particular hang-ups about either the order or the exact wording as long as it is crystal clear what people are voting for.
The STV system has several benefits – It is easy to understand, it is inclusive and it also tends to give a more definitive answer.
The second referendum won’t actually happen (not in this Parliament: the votes aren’t there), but Labour’s disrespect for the referendum result will do tremendous damage for the Party in the key Labour-Tory marginals in the Midlands and the North.
Instead of sucking up to the Blairites in this fashion in order to keep them in the PLP, Corbyn would have been better off flushing our toilet into the Independent Group.