Labour May Lose Potential UK General Election If Fights To Keep UK In EU - Communist Party

UK Labour party would lose any chance of winning a general election if it decided to fully back the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union, Robert Griffiths, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Britain, told Sputnik

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2019) UK Labour party would lose any chance of winning a general election if it decided to fully back the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union, Robert Griffiths, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Britain, told Sputnik.

On Monday, Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson delivered a speech in which he argued that his party should endorse Remain.

"Labour becoming identified with a strong-Remain prospect, well you can wave goodbye to them holding pro-Brexit seats. Obviously it depends on who the Tories have as leader, but [Boris] Johnson [compared to the other candidates] has a better chance of hanging on to those seats. Taking the Tom Watson line will virtually guarantee a Labour defeat in a general election," Griffiths stressed.

However, Labour's Leader Jeremy Corbyn could still succeed, depending on which Conservative lawmaker became a new leader of the ruling party, the politician argued.

"I certainly think there is still the prospect of Corbyn getting elected, although I think it's looking more like a minority government than any clear majority, although that ultimately relies on some factors that are difficult to quantify � in terms of which Tory candidate would be most likely to inadvertently produce a Corbyn victory ... I don't think that's Boris," Griffiths said.

According to Griffiths, former foreign secretary Johnson "is the only one, probably, who will be able to hold together the traditional Tory vote in terms of those who are pro-Brexit and have a chance also of retaining the working class Tory vote whilst withstanding the [Nigel] Farage offensive.

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Farage is leading the Brexit party, which backs the United Kingdom leaving the bloc without a free trade agreement. Meanwhile, Labour has argued for a close alignment with the bloc on trade. Johnson has stressed that the United Kingdom must leave on October 31, with or without a deal.

"So I think he [Jonson] has got a better chance than most of preventing a Corbyn victory, although whether he will be able to remains to be seen. The major factor will be where we are with Brexit and where that puts the Brexit Party. If they can take more votes from the Tories than from Labour then I think that does make a Corbyn victory possible. On the other hand if Labour take a strongly pro-Remain position I think that reduces the prospect [of winning]," Griffiths said.

Griffiths went on to argue that Labour's chances of winning key seats, especially in Constituencies that voted to exit the European Union during the 2016 referendum, depended on taking a tough line when it came to delivering on Brexit. Victory or defeat for either the Conservative party or Labour in any future contest would thus depend on winning voters over from the Brexit party.

Johnson won the first and second rounds of the vote held among Conservative lawmakers. A series of votes is being held to replace Theresa May, who announced her resignation shortly after her latest attempt to put a withdrawal deal through the UK parliament failed. She stepped down on June 7, but remained a caretaker prime minister until a new Conservative Party leader gets elected. Corbyn called for a general election immediately after May announced her resignation.