General election: Jeremy Corbyn to stay neutral in second Brexit referendum
Leaders of the four main political parties face questions from the public during BBC Question Time.
Saturday 23 November 2019 14:18, UK
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he will adopt a "neutral stance" in a second Brexit referendum if he is elected prime minister.
Mr Corbyn confirmed his stance for the first time as leaders of the four main political parties faced questions from the public during BBC Question Time.
He had previously refused to say whether he would campaign for either Remain or Leave in a second Brexit referendum that Labour has promised if they win the election.
Mr Corbyn told the audience: "My role, and the role of our government, will be to ensure that referendum is held in a fair atmosphere and we will abide by the result of it.
"And I will adopt, as prime minister if I am at the time, a neutral stance so that I can credibly carry out the results of that to bring our communities and country together, rather than continuing an endless debate about the EU and Brexit.
"This will be a trade deal with Europe or remaining in the EU - that will be the choice we put before the British people within six months."
Mr Corbyn also said that a Labour government would not support a new referendum on Scottish independence in the "early years" of an administration.
Pressed on what the term "early years" meant, the Labour leader said: "The early years, first two years, at least."
But SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon told the audience that in return for her party's support any Labour government would need to respect the right of the Scottish people to "choose their own future".
She also doubted Mr Corbyn's current stance on not sanctioning another independence referendum in the early years of a Labour government.
She said: "Do you think he's going to walk away from the chance to end austerity, to protect the NHS, stop universal credit, simply because he wants for a couple of years to prevent Scotland having the right to self-determination?
"I'm not sure he's going to compromise the chance to have a Labour government for that issue."
However, Ms Sturgeon said she did not envisage forming a coalition government with Labour in the event of a hung parliament, but a "less formal arrangement".
Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson took every chance to bring his answers back to Brexit, often prompting groans from the audience.
Awkward moments for the prime minister came when he was questioned about trust and a report into Russian interference in the country's politics, which has not been publicly released.
Mr Johnson claimed there is "absolutely no evidence" of Russian interference in British politics, describing it as "Bermuda triangle stuff".
"As is the suggestion that the referendum... was somehow false, not fair, wrong and should now be cancelled," he added.
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said she did not regret starting the campaign with a bold claim that she could become prime minister.
She said: "There is still three weeks left in this campaign, and all I would say to anybody that thinks that you can predict the outcome of the election in the middle of the campaign - ask Theresa May how that worked out last time around."
The Liberal Democrats' policy of revoking Article 50 and stopping Brexit was challenged by the audience.
Ms Swinson said: "We are being very straightforward as a party that we want to stop Brexit. You might agree with us, you might disagree with us.
"I don't think you can accuse us of not being upfront about wanting to stop Brexit. We've been crystal clear about that from the very beginning.
"Not for one second do I think that means that you or anybody like you is stupid. I think it means we disagree."
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- Watch Dermot Murnaghan live from 9pm on 12 December
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