Corbyn Said to Have Told Business Brexit Options Being Kept Open
Corbyn and Captains of British Industry Finally Face to Face
(Bloomberg) -- Over mugs of tea emblazoned with the Labour slogan -- “For the many, not the few” -- Jeremy Corbyn told a handful of business executives that his party would rule nothing out on Brexit -- except a second referendum.
The private meeting lasted about an hour on Monday evening in the office of the leader of Britain’s main opposition party who wants to shake up corporate culture. Representing U.K. Plc were five people from the country’s biggest business lobbies, including the Confederation of British Industry.
According to one attendee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, about one third of the discussion concerned Brexit and Labour’s top brass -- Corbyn, John McDonnell and Rebecca Long-Bailey -- said their policy on the matter remained wide open. The only thing they would not countenance is another plebiscite on whether to stay in the European Union.
CBI Director General Carolyn Fairbairn is said to have grilled Corbyn on whether the U.K. might remain within the customs union -- a topic of hot debate in the current government. The rest of the meeting dealt with the fate of Carillion Plc and its sub-contractors, and the party’s skills and apprenticeship program and lifelong learning plans.
Under Corbyn’s leadership, Labour wants to return utilities and railways to public ownership and impose stiffer taxes for companies and the rich: policies that have brought Labour within sniffing distance of power.
Investors fear a Corbyn administration could spur a run on the pound yet they have also woken up to the fact that it’s a much likelier prospect as Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May struggles to deliver her version of Brexit amid party divisions.
The group, with one representative from each business group, agreed to meet again. Corbyn’s office said this was the first of four annual meetings between Labour and the five main business lobbies, including the CBI, Institute of Directors, Federation of Small Business.
A Labour official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was a recognition that the party was the government-in-waiting and that Brexit would inevitably dominate many of the discussions.
Corbyn’s policy, the official said, was one of flexibility. He restated that Labour wants a “jobs-first Brexit” that retains the benefits of the customs union and single market.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Hellier in London at dhellier@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, David Merritt at dmerritt1@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-Jackson, Emma Ross-Thomas
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