William Cash, 75 is a prominent Conservative backbencher and eurosceptic, who entered parliament in 1984, a year after the new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn made his debut. One of the Tory “bastards” who dogged John Major's premiership with their opposition to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, Cash is among those who helped defeat the government’s plans to amend the purdah rules for the EU referendum this week, when he and 26 other Tory MPs voted against eliminating the month-long period when government campaigning and spending is restricted before a poll. Cash, who is currently the Chairman of the European Scrutiny committee, told me what he thinks a Corbyn victory means in terms of the position the Labour Party is likely to adopt on Britain's membership of the European Union.
The election of Jeremy Corbyn as the Labour leader is a seismic change in the party's make up. He has got massive support outside, but the question is how the members of the parliamentary party are going to react, many of whom have stuck to the Mandelson/Blairite view of Europe which was exclusively pro-European. That was the nostrum of the Labour Party. It wasn't in 1983 but it was in 2015. But the message from the last general election is that the proportion of Labour seats that were lost to the Conservatives as a result of the intrusion of the Ukip vote handed us the victory we got in 2015, which included the annihilation of the fanatically pro-European Liberal Democrats.
There is a strong element of undisclosed euroscepticism in the Labour Party—Corbyn himself voted against the Maastricht Treaty. This is based not on the question of whether they would agree with the Conservatives on the Social Chapter [which guarantees such things as protection for pregnant women and part-time workers]—because they would not—but rather on whether or not by regaining power at Westminster along the lines that I, and many of the Maastricht rebels and their Tory successors in this parliament, would advocate they could then introduce their own national legislation and pass the more radical social reforms I know Jeremy Corbyn wants. That's why I believe Len McCluskey and others have shifted their position—there are members of the Labour Party who know they don't have to rely on Europe to deliver social reform.
There is also a shift in public opinion with the latest opinion poll saying that 51 per cent are in favour [of leaving the EU]. The refugee crisis has clearly had a significant bearing on it, but I believe this is a gradual and historical movement. This is not about Conservative versus Labour. This vote will cross all party lines—it is not a Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat or SNP issue. This is about In versus Out—do you want to remain in or leave [the European Union]?
[gallery ids="38107,38108,38116,38104,38105,38106,38102,38110,38109,38103"]
Anyone who saw Corbyn give his victory speech, which he delivered almost without notes, should be aware he is going to appeal to lot of people. Many people would say that his election is advantageous for the Conservative Party, but while he has strong views on a number of subjects with which many within the Conservative Party disagree, on the European question he, and those around him, have demonstrated that they hold similar views (for very different reasons) to those of Tory eurosceptics.
Whether or not Jeremy Corbyn will become an ally of the Out campaign I can't yet say. Despite denials on the Today programme this morning I still think, and Labour Party sources indicate, that it is too early to say what his position will be. What I can say is that the changing mood of the British people and the advent of Ukip in terms of its impact on Labour’s ability to win seats could change the ideological obsession of the party’s establishment and leadership with its commitment to the European cause which was euro-fanatical. Jeremy Corbyn is certainly not that.
The election of Jeremy Corbyn as the Labour leader is a seismic change in the party's make up. He has got massive support outside, but the question is how the members of the parliamentary party are going to react, many of whom have stuck to the Mandelson/Blairite view of Europe which was exclusively pro-European. That was the nostrum of the Labour Party. It wasn't in 1983 but it was in 2015. But the message from the last general election is that the proportion of Labour seats that were lost to the Conservatives as a result of the intrusion of the Ukip vote handed us the victory we got in 2015, which included the annihilation of the fanatically pro-European Liberal Democrats.
There is a strong element of undisclosed euroscepticism in the Labour Party—Corbyn himself voted against the Maastricht Treaty. This is based not on the question of whether they would agree with the Conservatives on the Social Chapter [which guarantees such things as protection for pregnant women and part-time workers]—because they would not—but rather on whether or not by regaining power at Westminster along the lines that I, and many of the Maastricht rebels and their Tory successors in this parliament, would advocate they could then introduce their own national legislation and pass the more radical social reforms I know Jeremy Corbyn wants. That's why I believe Len McCluskey and others have shifted their position—there are members of the Labour Party who know they don't have to rely on Europe to deliver social reform.
There is also a shift in public opinion with the latest opinion poll saying that 51 per cent are in favour [of leaving the EU]. The refugee crisis has clearly had a significant bearing on it, but I believe this is a gradual and historical movement. This is not about Conservative versus Labour. This vote will cross all party lines—it is not a Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat or SNP issue. This is about In versus Out—do you want to remain in or leave [the European Union]?
[gallery ids="38107,38108,38116,38104,38105,38106,38102,38110,38109,38103"]
Anyone who saw Corbyn give his victory speech, which he delivered almost without notes, should be aware he is going to appeal to lot of people. Many people would say that his election is advantageous for the Conservative Party, but while he has strong views on a number of subjects with which many within the Conservative Party disagree, on the European question he, and those around him, have demonstrated that they hold similar views (for very different reasons) to those of Tory eurosceptics.
Whether or not Jeremy Corbyn will become an ally of the Out campaign I can't yet say. Despite denials on the Today programme this morning I still think, and Labour Party sources indicate, that it is too early to say what his position will be. What I can say is that the changing mood of the British people and the advent of Ukip in terms of its impact on Labour’s ability to win seats could change the ideological obsession of the party’s establishment and leadership with its commitment to the European cause which was euro-fanatical. Jeremy Corbyn is certainly not that.
