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Corbyn prepares to cut Gordian knot of #Brexit impasse

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The conventional wisdom about Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party is that the pound is supposed to fall when sudden policy changes are announced, writes Roger Casale of New Europeans. 

However when the Labour leader informed the press that his party would back a second referendum the pound started to go up.  Confidence is on the rise that the Brexit juggernaut can and will be stopped.

The decision by Jeremy Corbyn to back a second referendum is conditional - first he will try to get his alternative Brexit deal through the Commons. If that fails then Labour will support Theresa May's Brexit deal but on the proviso that it is subjected to a referendum before it can become law.

The proposal that Labour should back the withdrawal agreement in return for a sunset clause guaranteeing a referendum was originally proposed by grassroots members of the leading civil rights group New Europeans on 4 February.

Following a celebrated tweet by the political commentator Ian Dunt on 5 February, the New Europeans' proposal was taken up by MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson who immediately went and spoke to the Clerks at the House of Commons to find out if and how this could be done.

Support for the Kyle/Wilson amendment has continued to grow including from two key figures, John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor and John Cryer MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Labour party who warmed to the proposal over the weekend.

Speaking about the change of heart by Labour, Roger Casale, former Labour MP and founder of New Europeans said:

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"The proposal we put forward, and that has been taken up with such effect by Peter Kyle MP and Phil Wilson MP, offers Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May a face-saving compromise. By signing the Withdrawal Agreement, they can both say they did their best in parliament to deliver Brexit. By handing the final decision back to "the people" they absolve themselves of having to take total responsibility for the final outcomes."

New Europeans is continuing to argue that if there is to be a second referendum, it is likely to be on 23 May, the day of the European elections.

Explaining the reasoning behind this, Roger Casale said: "There are local elections in England and Northern Ireland on 2 May and no body wants to ask the electorate to vote three times in 8 weeks. So the most probable date is 23 May given that the prime minister does not want to prolong a resolution for longer than three months."

All eyes will be on the House of Commons today (27 February) to watch the vote on Labour's Alternative Brexit plan - the pro-Europeans among us will be hoping that they lose.

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