Any illusions I had that Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn might see the light -' there is no better Brexit' were blown away reading his interview with the Guardian newspaper published today. I have fantasied since 24 July that he was not going to get on the wrong side of Labour Leave voters. He was going to wait until the Tories made such a monumental mess of Brexit that there was no one to blame other than the Tories. But no, his Guardian interviewer reports:
The Labour leader insisted that even if his party won a snap general election in the new year, he would seek to go to Brussels and try to secure a better deal – if possible, in time to allow Brexit to go ahead on 29 March.
At this stage of the Brexit process that is ridiculous. If Labour is serious about wanting a General Election it its time to change the political weather.
Coming just days before thousands of Labour Party members renew their party membership, this Lexiteer posturing could not have come at a worse time. I stopped my Direct Debit to the Party after a spell on its National Executive Committee in protest against its shabby governance arrangements. I renew annually - it is more expensive for the Party, but I retain my say. I support a People's Vote. But my mind says there isn't time. A helpful paper from the Constitutional Unit at University College London sets out a possible 22-week timetable.
So much hangs on the question of whether time can be 'bought' with an extension of Article 50 TEU. If so, when is Corbyn going to goad the Government into getting 'permission' from the EU-27?