Jeremy Corbyn’s key aides are ready to accept a no-deal Brexit and “don’t give a toss” what Labour members or voters think, veteran MP Dame Margaret Beckett has claimed.
The former deputy party leader hit out after Corbyn again postponed a decision on a second referendum, telling colleagues he wanted more time to consult trade union leaders.
Although some MPs blamed Unite general secretary Len McCluskey for the fresh delay, Beckett said the responsibility lay with the Labour leader’s inner circle of advisers.
In what was seen as a veiled swipe at chief of staff Karie Murphy and strategy chief Seumas Milne, she said that although close aides had proved their loyalty it was time to listen to the party at large.
“I’m beginning to think that some of them do actually want Britain to leave the EU no matter what,” she told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme.
“They don’t give a toss about what the British people now want or what Labour members think is in the country’s interests.
“They just are determined to make sure we don’t do anything to impede Britain leaving, if necessary with no deal.”
When asked who she was referring to, she replied: “The leader’s office is the usual shorthand.”
Corbyn faced a backlash from shadow cabinet ministers on Tuesday as he revealed that he wanted to consult further with union bosses before making a final decision on whether to formally back a referendum on ‘any’ Brexit deal.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell was particularly withering, warning that the party’s policy resembled a ‘slow-moving car crash’, with millions of Labour supporters having backed the Liberal Democrats in the recent European elections.
Beckett stressed that she didn’t think that Corbyn was personally at fault.
“I don’t get the impression that it is Jeremy himself who is the stumbling block,” she said.
“I think there are people very close to him, with great influence with him, who are and have been from the beginning passionately opposed...
“He wants to keep the party together as much as possible and present a united front on the issue.”
A Labour source told HuffPost UK: “Jeremy is trying to bring the whole movement together around a settled position on this deeply polarising issue. No one should pretend there are any easy answers.”
When asked if Beckett was right, a spokesman for Corbyn said: “We don’t comment on staffing matters.
“There are many people around Jeremy Corbyn. We are all familiar with the trope about good kings and their bad advisers. The idea that Jeremy doesn’t make his own decision or decide what he wants to do is laughable.
“Jeremy Corbyn has his own views and takes his own decisions, decisions are not taken for him by anybody else. The idea he’s under the control of anyone else is laughable.”
Asked if Corbyn was under the control of McCluskey, the spokesman said: “Jeremy is the leader of the Labour Party he has strong and clear views and he takes his own decisions.
“Of course the trade unions are an important part of the Labour Party, Unite is a large democratic affiliate, the biggest union which straddles both public and private sectors. But Jeremy takes his own decisions.
“Right now Jeremy is trying to make sure that there’s wide consultation in the labour movement - that includes the affiliated trade unions who have 49% of the vote of the Labour Party conference and are a vital part of our party.
“We are looking to get a common position that people can row behind in the next few weeks. The CLPs and the NEC members, he’s written directly to the NEC to seek their views and he’s meeting MPs with different views on this issue across the PLP.”
The spokesman said that the exact question of what Labour would want on a second referendum had yet to be determined, and pointed out that the Commons had failed to even back the idea so far.
“We would expect Remain to be on the ballot paper in any referendum but of course we are talking about a number of uncertainties,” he said.
“At the moment, there’s no obvious mechanism to get a referendum. And what would be on the ballot paper, would depend on the circumstances and depend on parliament’s decision.
“In any referendum, there needs to be a credible leave option. What that would be depends on circumstances.”
When asked if no-deal would be a credible leave option, the spokesman replied: “When we are talking about a credible leave option, we are saying there must be a real choice for Leave voters in any referendum.”