David Lammy leads Labour call for Jeremy Corbyn to commit to EU free movement
JEREMY Corbyn’s key allies are urging him to commit to retaining the freedom of movement for EU workers.
The Labour Party’s stance on Brexit has come under fire for being unclear and moving away from its core principles.
Senior members of the party want Mr Corbyn to commit to ensuring that Labour is seen as the party that is for working people, regardless of their origins.
David Lammy and Clive Lewis are among the MPs who are leading calls for Mr Corbyn to make the Labour policy on the freedoms of EU workers in the UK better understood.
Members of several trade union and the party’s National Executive Committee are also backing the plans.
Among those figures are: Ronnie Draper of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union and Manuel Cortes, of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association.
Mr Cortes said: "We are fully committed to challenging and fighting unscrupulous bosses who exploit EU migrants.
"We put the blame firmly on the perpetrators, not the victims. We strongly believe that free movement enriches our society."
He said the party should campaign to end the exploitation of workers, not free movement.
Julie Ward, MEP for North West England, said: "Labour must stand up for Freedom of Movement, for a pluralistic society, and for the rights of EU nationals who live, work, study and pay into our tax economy.
"We must never cede greater benefits for capital and goods than we do for people."
Labour leader Mr Corbyn has said that free movement will end after Brexit, but Labour would introduce a "managed migration" policy.
In its founding statement, the free movement campaign said: "Labour must build a society for the many, not the few. We need well-paid, secure jobs for all, with guaranteed hours, collective bargaining and stronger, freer trade unions.
"We need a policy of massive investment in council housing, public services and infrastructure. And we need to tell the truth about who and what is to blame for the crisis: an unaccountable elite who have run the economy in their own narrow interests.
"Ending free movement would be counter-productive to achieving all of this."
Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns, a supporter of the Change Britain pro-Brexit group, said the Labour campaigners were "out of touch with the country and their own party".
"The referendum result was a clear vote to take back control of our borders, and the Labour manifesto itself pledged to end free movement," she said.
"Outside of the EU we can continue to protect workers' rights whilst creating a new immigration system which attracts the talent that our economy needs in a fairer way from both inside and outside the EU.
"We can also invest in skills and education, so British workers are equipped with the tools to succeed in the 21st century."
Theresa May has said that she plans to end freedom of movemnet for EU workers in the UK in 2019.