Many progressives want Corbyn’s Labour to fight back against Brexit. PAimages/Jonathan Brady. All rights reserved.One year after the EU referendum, in which Labour all but unanimously campaigned for Remain, the party finds itself unexpectedly in a position to obstruct government legislation. With Parliament hung, Brussels bullish, and Tory rebels in the wings, the stage is set for a massive Brexit showdown. Jeremy Corbyn, many progressives argue, could and should lead a Remain revolt, campaign for a second referendum, and reverse the national blunder of 2016.
Why does he not? Where is this showdown? Some point to Labour’s fragile majorities in the north, vulnerable to Ukip and Tory surges at the slightest sign of Brexit backsliding. But many others suspect that Corbyn and McDonnell, in the Bennite tradition, have no great love for the EU, and see in Brexit an opportunity for the Left.
In our age of contractions and limited characters, it is no surprise that this “left-wing Brexit” is now “Lexit”, but while the term arouses strong feeling amongst a few exceptionally close observers of UK politics, it remains unused and largely unknown amongst the wider public.
