Jeremy Corbyn told to keep UK in single market after Brexit by MPs - but he urges caution

Jeremy Corbyn came under renewed pressure to commit Labour to keeping the UK in the EU single market after Brexit, as his party meets in Brighton for its annual conference.

Thirty senior party figures have written an open letter calling for Labour to do whatever it takes to keep Britain in the single market and the customs union.

But although he promised to listen to party members, Mr Corbyn said staying in the single market could obstruct a Labour government’s ability to protect jobs and invest in industry.

The Labour leader said EU restrictions on state aid and pressure to privatise sectors like rail could cause problems.

‘We need to be quite careful about the powers that we need as national governments,’ he told the Marr Show on BBC on Sunday morning

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has previously said that under a Labour government Britain would remain in the single market and the customs union for a transitional period of two to four years after Brexit.

However the signatories to the letter published in The Observer, including former shadow cabinet member Chuka Umunna said the party should go further to protect jobs and workers’ rights.

‘The supposed benefits of a clean break with the EU are a fantasy. The economic impact of leaving the single market would hit the most vulnerable in our society hardest,’ the letter said.

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“So at our conference this week, Labour should commit to staying in the single market and customs union – ruling out no options for how to achieve this – and to working with sister parties and others across Europe to improve workers’ rights, boost trade union membership and put an end to the exploitation of workers, not freedom of movement.’

The Labour leadership has so far resisted calls to remain in the single market permanently which would entail accepting free movement of labour – a move it fears would be deeply unpopular in many of its traditional heartlands where immigration is a key concern among voters.

Mr Corbyn appeared on the Marr Show on BBC this morning, but did not make a firm committal to the plea in the Observer.

Asked if he supported free movement, Mr Corbyn responded: ‘I understand what they are saying.

‘I understand the importance of workers’ movement from one place to the to the other. What I also understand is that there an abuse of free movement by some employers who have grotesquely exploited some very low-paid workers.

‘That has to stop.

‘But we have to recognise that in the future we’re going to need people who work in Europe and people from Europe are going to need to work here.

‘There’s going to be a lot of movement,’ he told the show.

In another article for The Observer, Mr Corbyn underlined the mood of confidence in the Labour leadership after the party’s unexpected gains in the June general election when it wiped out Theresa May’s Commons majority, saying his party is now a ‘government in waiting’.

Meanwhile shadow chancellor John McDonnell has sought to put pressure on the Conservatives over university tuition fees, offering to back any move by Chancellor Philip Hammond to raise the £21,000 salary threshold at which graduates have to start repaying their loans.

‘What I am saying to him is if he comes forward with effective proposals on thresholds and interest rates then we will support him. It has got to be a significant step,” he told The Sunday Times.