Labour's Emily Thornberry FUMES at Theresa May for pandering to 'EXTREME Brexit notions'
EMILY THORNBERRY has ripped into Theresa May over her Brexit strategy, accusing her of willing to “sacrifice our economy for all kinds of extreme Brexit notions”.
Emily Thornberry: We are not going to let May have blank cheque
The shadow foreign secretary vowed that the Prime Minister would not be handed a “blank cheque” to deal with the UK’s exit from the trading bloc.
She told Channel 4 News: “I think that what we have to do is that we have to acknowledge that fact that the British public voted to leave the European Union.
“But what we must do is make sure we look after the economy. Nobody, whether they voted to remain or to leave, voted to be poorer or to lose their job.
“And every Prime Minister, no matter what circumstances, throughout the centuries and across the world have always put the economy first until this one.
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[This Government] is prepared to sacrifice our economy for all kinds of extreme Brexit notions and that has to be stopped
“This one is prepared to sacrifice our economy for all kinds of extreme Brexit notions and that has to be stopped.”
The Labour MP also blasted Mrs May for calling the snap General Election and mocked her for “not liking the fact there’s opposition”.
Ms Thornberry said: “We’re not going to let her have a blank cheque because people say that we’re not a strong enough opposition but actually how can you say that?
“And yet she stands on the doorstep of Number 10 and she says ‘I don’t like the fact there’s opposition to me, I don’t like the fact that they’re trying to push me into a sort of Brexit that I don’t want therefore I’m going to have a General Election’.”
The comments came before Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn used his first major campaign speech to insist Conservative victory was not "a foregone conclusion".
Vowing that people power could overturn the "establishment" and its "rigged system" that worked in favour of the rich, he told the event in London: "Things can, and they will, change."
It came after the first poll since Theresa May announced the election gave her a 24-point lead over Labour, a nine-year high.
YouGov said the Tories had 48 per cent support, up four since last week, with Labour up one, on 24.
The Lib Dems were unchanged on 12 and Ukip down three on 7 per cent.
Mrs May's lead over Mr Corbyn as to who would be best Prime Minister was also up, with 54 per cent endorsing her and only 15 per cent the Labour leader.