Former Labour adviser Alastair Campbell has described Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal for a “new and comprehensive” UK-EU customs union as “significant”.
However Mr Campbell, a strong Remain supporter, said the proposal aimed at ensuring tariff-free trade after Brexit did not go far enough.
He urged Labour to back calls for a referendum on the final Brexit deal, stating that Mr Corbyn holds enough power to try to intervene on the UK government’s policy.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (Aaron Chown/PA)
Mr Campbell, who was in Edinburgh to promote his latest novel Saturday Bloody Saturday, said: “Jeremy Corbyn is not in power, but he does have power.
“The Labour Party has a lot of power in this situation because of the parliamentary arithmetic and I hope that Conservatives do stand up against this hard Brexit that Theresa May is pursuing.
“Although Jeremy Corbyn is saying ‘this isn’t much of a move’, I think it is quite a significant move and that says to me we can maybe get them to move further.”
He added: “I want them to move to a position where they acknowledge the importance of the single market and also I want them to get to the position where they say if the deal that Theresa May brings back is not acceptable that – not just Parliament – but the public can have a say on that.
“The efforts the Government has been making to cherry pick the bits that it likes and leave the bits that it doesn’t – that doesn’t seem to be going down terribly well with the EU negotiators.
“But I certainly hope, that having moved a bit, Labour can move further.”