Labour green group urges Corbyn to back second Brexit vote

The only environmental group affiliated to the Labour party has written to Jeremy Corbyn calling on him to back a second referendum on Brexit and to campaign for remain.

It warns that leaving the EU will have devastating consequences for millions of British people, drastically undermine UK farmers, and do untold damage to the countryside.

The hard-hitting letter from the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA), considered to be the environmental voice inside Labour, says that leaving the EU risks harming the people Labour should be fighting hardest for – the poorest and most needy in society.

“As a party we recognise that there is no social justice without environmental justice,” the letter says. “We all have the right to clean air and water, to our green and pleasant lands, and access to affordable and safe food. We cannot ignore that some of the most vulnerable in our global community are hardest hit by the environmental challenges.

“It is also true for local communities in Britain, with dirty, toxic air and climate change hitting the poorest, young and elderly most severely.”

SERA, whose members include Labour MPs and leading environmentalists, argues that the party when in government achieved much to improve environmental standards and protections, in large part as a result of using its clout as a member of the EU.

Its intervention will intensify pressure on the leadership to throw its full weight behind another referendum, as Brexit negotiations remain deadlocked in parliament.

The party agreed to keep the option of a second referendum open at its annual conference in Liverpool last September but Corbyn and his close inner circle have been reluctant to throw their full support behind a second vote because of fears that such a move would anger Brexit-backing Labour voters.

SERA argues, however, that the environmental case for remaining in the EU is unarguable and that leaving would deprive a future Labour government of its ability to advance green causes at a time of growing threats and dangers.

“As a party in government we led the world with the Climate Change Act. We were also a significant player in the EU as it became a global force for action on climate change as a standard and regulation setter, using the 28-country collective trade clout to refuse trade deals to nations that did not ratify the Paris Agreement.

“Walking away from the EU means we risk losing long-fought-for public protections which have cut sewage polluting our rivers, acid rain caused by power stations and contaminated food by chemical companies.”

It adds: “Without the institutions, offices and systems, funding or staff, our environmental protections post-Brexit are likely to exist in name only.

“For many who voted for Brexit, they wanted a democracy that worked better, where those that govern are accountable, transparent and act in the interests of the country. Legislation is being rushed through at a speed that denies any real attempt at scrutiny … SERA therefore calls on Labour, to seek to put this to the people by backing a People’s Vote and campaign to remain in the EU.”