Jeremy Corbyn angers Labour MPs as he declares 'we can't stop Brexit'
2 min read
Jeremy Corbyn has risked a fresh Labour row by declaring: "We can't stop Brexit."
The Labour leader told German magazine Der Spiegel it was too late to stop the UK leaving the EU because Article 50 has already been triggered.
He said it was more important to "recognise the reasons why people voted Leave" in the first place.
Asked in the Der Spiegel interview whether he would stop Brexit if he could, Mr Corbyn replied: "We can't stop it. The referendum took place. Article 50 has been triggered. What we can do is recognise the reasons why people voted Leave."
He added: "I think a lot of people have been totally angered by the way in which their communities have been left behind.
"We had high Leave votes in the most left-behind areas of the country. In a lot of deprived areas, working conditions have deteriorated over the decades, protected by European legislation. Indeed, we would enhance workers' rights, where the Conservative Party wants to go in another direction of a largely deregulated economy."
Mr Corbyn's remarks are significant because they appear to rule out any chance of Labour backing another EU referendum, which opinion polls suggest most of the party's members support.
His comments also appeared to put him at odds with the Labour policy agreed at the party's conference in September, which left open the prospect of them supporting a fresh EU referendum with the possibility of Remain being on the ballot paper.
Pro-EU Labour MPs reacted angrily to Mr Corbyn's answer.
Chuka Umunna retweeted a tweet insisting what Mr Corbyn said was "just not true, Article 50 can be revoked".
The Labour row came as the Government was rocked by the resignation of Jo Johnson, who launched a bitter attack on Theresa May's proposed Brexit deal and called for another referendum.
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