WATCH: Jeremy Corbyn rules out second EU referendum if Brexit bill is defeated
2 min read
Jeremy Corbyn has effectively ruled out supporting a second EU referendum on the Brexit deal Theresa May strikes with Brussels.
The Labour leader said that if the Government loses the parliamentary vote on the deal, ministers should either try to renegotiate it or call a general election.
Opponents of Brexit - including former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair - want a fresh referendum to be held on the terms of the final agreement.
But in an interview with ITV News, Mr Corbyn did not list that as one of his preferred options for when Mrs May returns to the UK with her deal.
He said: "If the Government has been fundamentally defeated then it has two choices. One is to go back and negotiate something different, or the other is to resign - in which case we'll have a general election."
Mr Corbyn was speaking after delivering a speech in which he confirmed a Labour government would try to seek a new customs union with the EU after Brexit.
Although he insisted any such deal would need to allow the UK to negotiate its own trade deals with other countries, something it is barred from doing as a full EU member.
The Labour leader also said his party wanted to retain the same benefits of being in the single market, but without being a full member.
And he also ruled out a Norway-style arrangement, whereby Britain would pay to have tariff-free access to the single market but without having any say over its rules.
He said: "You cannot be a member of the single market if you are not in the European Union. Norway has no say over the rules it has to abide by, except in fisheries and agriculture, which they've got an exemption on."
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