Jeremy Corbyn provoked outrage among Labour Leavers yesterday after confirming the party would back Remain in a referendum on any deal struck by the Conservatives or a no-deal.
According to the official Labour Leave Campaign twitter page, the announcement means the party has “lost 5 million Labour Leave voters”, some “100 MPs will lose their seats” and Mr Corbyn will “lose the next general election”.
But even Euro-sceptic Corbyn had his hands tied in this instance.
Any party that proclaims to have the interest of workers at their heart could not have backed a Conservative-led Brexit in good conscience.
As the party website proudly states, “the Labour Party has always been about people”, it was formed to give ordinary people a voice and has “sought power in order to improve their lives”, becoming one of the most successful social and progressive movements of a generation.
But with all the signs showing that Brexit is about to wreak havoc on the lives of those they pertain to protect, what will come of their legacy if Labour becomes the party that allows it to happen?
Brexit has already ripped through much of our manufacturing belt, costing jobs in Sunderland, Scunthorpe, Solihull, Wolverhampton, Halewood, Gaydon, Whitley, Broughton, Newport, Stevenage, Portsmouth and more.
While many of those places represent Leave-voting areas they also represent areas of the country that are most vulnerable to a hard exit from the European Union, which is what the new Conservative leaders a promising to pursue.
As SNP MP Ian Blackford said earlier this year, “if Labour choose to back the Tories on Brexit, and act as the midwives to May’s deal, they will be just as culpable for the harm it will cause and for every job lost as a result. Labour should know an entire generation will never forgive them for betraying the interests of our country.”
What else could Corbyn do?