Corbyn Refuses To Answer Question Six Times

[Kromovaracun]

https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1031943630590763010

In 240 seconds, Corbyn was asked six times by a C4 reporter if, in his opinion, Britain will be better off outside the EU.

Corbyn refuses to answer, despite having long been a Eurosceptic and very probably a closet Brexiteer - yet needs to rely on Remain-leaning support among his base in order to keep his position as party leader.

Is Corbyn as paralyzed over Brexit as May is?

[jim360]

Probably.

[ichkeria]

Yes. For now it doesn’t matter so much but it will bite him soon

[jno]

almost certainly. He's a brexiter, May's a remainer, but somehow they've ended up with each other's jobs.

[Baldric]

The Man has lost any credibility he ever had imo.

[youngmafbog]

JC has different reasons to most for wanting out the EU though. He wants to Nationalise but currently within the EU he could not do that.

One thing that has always puzzled me is how people still seem to think being a remainer or a leaver is party aligned (Apart from the lib dems). It has been a splitting issue for both Labour and Conservative.

[ichkeria]

He’s a protest marcher out of his depth as a political leader. He knows full well most of his young supporters are europhiles while he’s a prehistoric Marxist eurosceptic. So of course he’s not going to answer

[ichkeria]

I’m not aware that anyone thinks it’s party aligned. Hence the belief amongst many that the old divisions are outdated

[jim360]

I suspect it's because of the usual government v. opposition split. Indeed, anyone who's been paying actual attention would see that Labour and the Tories never agreed amongst themselves on Brexit, although I think Labour is mainly pro-EU and the Tories much more significantly anti.

[Ellipsis]

> Is Corbyn as paralyzed over Brexit as May is?

Yes. Brexit goes across party lines. That's why Parliament, which runs along party lines, is having so much trouble with it.

[Kromovaracun]

//Yes. Brexit goes across party lines. That's why Parliament, which runs along party lines, is having so much trouble with it.//

It's complicated considerably by the fact that there's also a division between parliamentary party and grassroots. I don't know for sure but I would bet money that Tory party grassroots is far more Eurosceptic than the parliamentary party (which is overwhelmingly Remain) - while in Labour both the parliamentary party AND the grassroots are pretty solidly Remain but the leadership itself is not.

Perhaps all this mess demonstrates why it wasn't a good idea to try and solve this issue in a way that was external to our usual parliamentary system, eh?

[ToraToraTora]

he does have similar problems, he's a brexiteer at heart and during the campaign demonstrated scant enthusiasm for the official stance of the party and was subsequently blamed by many for brexit winning. So yes I'd say COB is as paralysed as May on brexit.

[ToraToraTora]

Kromo: "while in Labour both the parliamentary party AND the grassroots are pretty solidly Remain but the leadership itself is not. " - look at the map half way down "overall result" and you can see that most of Labour's heartlands were pro brexit:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36616028

[Ellipsis]

> Perhaps all this mess demonstrates why it wasn't a good idea to try and solve this issue in a way that was external to our usual parliamentary system, eh?

The issue was created in a way that was external to our usual parliamentary system - referendum - but they're now trying to solve it in a way that isn't - parliament.

The issue probably should have been solved using some kind of national unity government, especially after the hung Parliament. The problem there is that Corbyn is Labour leader - if it had been almost anybody else, that might have been an option.

[Peter Pedant]

Is Corbyn as paralyzed over Brexit as May is?

....erm he may be

[aelmpvw]

//Corbyn Refuses To Answer Question Six Times//
anyone could think that he was a politician

[gulliver1]

Well done Mr Corbyn, you know we will be worse off. But Least said soonest mended.

[Gromit]

It is quite amusing that Corbyn it a genuine brexiter and has the voting record over 30 years to prove it, yet no one will vote for him.
And May is a EUrophile (and has a 25 year record to prove that) and she is in charge.
If there was a General Election tomorrow, May the Remainer would beat Corbyn the Brexitter by miles, yet all the usual Brexitters on AB would not support the one genuine candidate.
Our politicas are really very screwed up.

[jno]

Brexit isn't party-aligned, ymb, but the awkward fact is that Tory voters are Tories first, Brexiters second, for all the huffing and puffing.

There's an ICM poll saying that May is still the leader with the best chance of winning a general election for the Tories

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/22/tories-leadership-may-johnson-rees-mogg-icm-poll

Which means that if an election was called, all the Tory voters would diligently go for their own party, even though it's the least likely option to deliver the brexit they want.

And given that the EU has been a Tory project all along, not a Labour one, this has obviously been the case for decades. Tory voters have been the enablers of Brussels from the start.

[naomi24]

//if an election was called, all the Tory voters would diligently go for their own party, even though it's the least likely option to deliver the brexit they want. //

Of course Conservatives will vote Conservative. Labour is dangling no realistic carrots - quite the reverse. No major party will deliver the Brexit leavers want.