We will help build a new Europe for the many not the few, both inside or outside the EU - Corbyn

In a speech to the Congress of the Party of European Socialists in Lisbon, Portugal, today (Friday 7 December), Jeremy Corbyn will commit the Labour Party to “build a new Europe, inside and outside the institutions of the EU, that really does work for the many, not the few”.

With Prime Minister Theresa May’s botched Brexit deal likely to be voted down next week, Corbyn will use his speech to lay out Labour’s alternative plan for Brexit, which would “ensure an open border in Ireland, provide security for investment, give our manufacturing sector a springboard for renewal, ensure we have the powers to rebuild our economy and public services and guarantee world-beating support for workers, consumers and our environment.”

Corbyn will call on progressive parties and movements across Europe to work together, against a failed political establishment and firmly in the interests of the many to defeat the far right.

Rejecting the approach taken by some social democratic parties in the past, the Labour leader will say: “the Right will always find a scapegoat; the Left must find solutions that deliver real change. If the European political establishment carries on with business as usual, the fake populists of the far right will fill the vacuum.”

He will also pay tribute to the Portuguese example of progressive political parties working together to roll back austerity, calling for an extension of “that approach across the continent to create a real social Europe, a people’s Europe that works for the many not the few.”

Corbyn will also comment on how Theresa May has “backed off and refused” a head-to-head TV debate with him on her botched deal and the future of our country.

On building a real social Europe, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, is expected to say:

“In a country where a million families are using food banks, over 4 million children are living in poverty and real wages are lower today than they were in 2010, the British people voted to leave the EU. We respect that decision; it’s our job to shape what comes next.

“Inside or outside the European Union we are internationalists to our very core. As socialists and trade unionists, we will work together to help build a real social Europe: a people’s Europe, a socialist Europe, that will strengthen solidarity across borders, resist the race to the bottom in rights and protections and work together to extend them for all workers, consumers and our environment.

“If the European political establishment carries on with business as usual, the fake populists of the far right will fill the vacuum.

“We have to recognise that EU support for austerity and failed neoliberal policies have caused serious hardship for working people across Europe, damaged the credibility of European social democratic parties, and played a significant role in the vote for Brexit. European socialists have to fight for a different kind of Europe.

“Our prize is a new progressive economic consensus that secures shared prosperity built on a powerful public realm. We must build a new Europe, inside and outside the institutions of the EU, that really does work for the many, not the few.”

On Labour’s alternative plan for Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn is expected to say:

“A ‘No deal’ Brexit would not only do serious damage to the UK, but it would have unpredictable and damaging consequences across Europe. It must be actively avoided by all  sides. A better deal, both for Britain and Europe, is both desirable and perfectly possible. Further negotiations are a small price to pay to get a solution that works for us all.

“We are confident that Labour’s alternative plan could command a majority in the British parliament, bring our country together and unlock the negotiations for our future relationship with the EU.

“A new, comprehensive customs union with the EU, with a British say in future trade deals, combined with a new strong relationship with the Single Market, would strengthen our manufacturing sector and give us a solid base for industrial renewal under the next Labour government, especially for our held-back communities. It would remove the threat of different parts of the UK being subject to separate regulations.

“Second, a new and strong relationship with the Single Market that gives us frictionless trade, and the freedom to rebuild our economy and expand our public services – while setting migration policies to meet the needs of the economy, not fuelling xenophobia with phoney immigration targets – makes far more sense than the Prime Minister’s dismal deal.

“Finally, we want to see guarantees that existing EU rights at work, environmental standards and consumer protections will become a benchmark to build on – not fall behind and undercut other countries at our people’s expense. These rights and protections, whether on chlorinated chicken or paid holidays, are what people actually want. But the government is determined to sell them off in a race to the bottom.

“Labour has very different priorities. Our alternative plan would ensure an open border in Ireland, provide security for investment, give our manufacturing sector a springboard for renewal, ensure we have the powers to rebuild our economy and public services and guarantee world-beating support for workers, consumers and our environment.”

On defeating the far right, Jeremy Corbyn is expected to say:

“The stakes could not be higher. If we cannot rise to the task, then we will smooth the path to power of the fake populists.

“The far right feeds on fears fuelled by falling living standards, damaged communities, insecure work and underfunded public services. It diverts the blame away from the powerful few responsible for economic and social failure and on to minorities.

“The Right will always find a scapegoat; the Left must find solutions that deliver real change. If the European political establishment carries on with business as usual, the fake populists of the far right will fill the vacuum

On the Portuguese example of progressive forces working together, Jeremy Corbyn is expected to say:

“I want to pay tribute to the Portuguese left as a whole, the Portuguese Socialist Party and the parties supporting it in government. Because it has been that alliance of progressive forces in Portugal that made it possible to start to turn the tide of failed austerity economics.

“We need to extend that approach across the continent to create a real social Europe, a people’s Europe that works for the many not the few.”

On Theresa May pulling out of a planned TV debate on Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn will say:

“I was looking forward to a head to head debate with Theresa May on her botched Brexit deal, to shine a light on what it would mean for our country, and lay out Labour's alternative plan.

“But unfortunately, when it came to it, as in the General Election last year, when it came to it the Prime Minister backed off and refused the head to head debate on offer. Given that her botched deal would have a major impact on our country’s future and our relationship with Europe, this is the very last time for Theresa May to dodge scrutiny.”