'We'll BLOCK hard Brexit' Leftist MEPs strike pact with Labour to undermine May's strategy
LEFTIST politicians in the European Parliament have struck a pact with Labour to feed them information about Theresa May’s negotiating strategy in a bid to thwart an “ultra-hard” Brexit.
MEPs from the Socialist and Democrats (S&D) party say they will leak information the British Government gives to Brussels to Jeremy Corbyn so that he can ambush the prime minister on the progress of the talks at PMQs.
They vowed to “make sure a hard Brexit is hard for the Government to get” and to work together with British europhiles to stop the PM from pulling the UK out of the single market.
The move demonstrates the determination within the ranks of the EU Parliament, which is staunchly europhile, to try and keep Britain as close to the bloc after Brexit as possible.
One of its most influential left-wing politicians today said that Labour “cannot trust” the Tories to keep them up to date on the divorce talks, and so promised to do so in her place.
Italian MEP Gianni Pitella, the head of the S&D grouping, met Mr Corbyn in London this afternoon to discuss a collective approach to undermining the PM’s desire to pull Britain out of the single market.
After the meeting he said: “Regardless of Brexit, Labour is and will remain one of the main actors in the European progressive family.
“We agree with Corbyn on a lot of priorities: We have the moral obligation to stand against any plan to detach the UK completely from Europe.
“We belong to the same family and together we will keep fighting for our common values and principles.”
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We will make sure a hard Brexit is hard for the UK government to get
And he vowed: “We will make sure a hard Brexit is hard for the UK government to get.”
The Italian MEP also expressed his opinion that the Brexit strategy being pursued by Mrs May is “dangerous and would have damaging consequences for both the UK and the EU”.
European parliamentarians will hold an all-powerful veto over any exit deal Westminster manages to agree with Brussels, and as a result will have to be consulted closely throughout the negotiations.
Sources within the S&D party told EurActiv that its officials would provide Labour with a running commentary of Mrs May’s performance because she cannot be trusted to speak openly about the talks once they begin.
They said: “We will provide them with information regarding the negotiations as they cannot rely on the government.”
The PM has repeatedly stressed that revealing details of her negotiating strategy would badly undermine her hand with other EU leaders and prevent Britain from being able to strike the best possible deal.