Just hours after suggesting his party would oppose uncontrolled migration to the UK, Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn made a quick about-turn on the issue saying he would not rule out continuing to support the free movement of people from the European Union.
Labour had sent out a briefing suggesting that the party no longer backed the rights of EU and UK citizens to move freely within Europe.
However when Corbyn delivered his speech at an event in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, last week, the Labour leader changed a key paragraph to say that the party did not “rule out” keeping free movement in exchange for access to the Single Market.
“Labour is not wedded to freedom of movement for EU citizens as a point of principle, but I don’t want that to be misinterpreted, nor do we rule it out,” the final version of the speech read.
However, he goes on to state that “Labour supports fair rules and the reasonable management of migration”, leaving continued confusion about what the party’s immigration policy is.
Corbyn also set out his plans for a “Labour Brexit” in which the party would “take back control” of the jobs market “which has been seriously damaged by years of reckless deregulation”.
