Where does Labour stand on Brexit?
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 13 July 2017
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Labour will play a crucial role in shaping Britain's exit from the EU now the Conservative government has lost its overall majority.
The vast majority of Labour MPs backed Remain ahead of the referendum - but most followed party orders to allow Article 50 to be invoked (the mechanism for leaving the EU).
On the day the government publishes the Repeal Bill and the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn meets the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, David Aaronovitch asks a range of political experts what Labour wants.
He'll look back into the party's history to see if that helps explain today's divisions and he'll be briefed on whether Labour's Brexit wishlist is realistic.
CONTRIBUTORS Steven Fielding, Professor of Political History at The University of Nottingham
Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Union Law, The University of Cambridge
Deborah Mattinson, former advisor to Gordon Brown and founder of think tank Britain Thinks
Producers: Phoebe Keane and Beth Sagar-Fenton
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the briefing room with me, David Oronovich. |
| 0:03.2 | After the election and as Brexit begins to dominate Parliament, it matters where Labour stands on Europe. |
| 0:10.0 | But where exactly is that? |
| 0:19.3 | This afternoon, Jeremy Corbyn met with the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, |
| 0:25.6 | who, earlier in the week, had said this. |
| 0:28.6 | We have published nine EU positions papers so far under different issues. |
| 0:36.6 | And the EU positions are clear. |
| 0:41.4 | We now need to know the UK's position on each of these issues |
| 0:46.3 | in order to make progress. |
| 0:49.9 | We cannot remain idle as the clock is ticking. |
| 0:55.5 | Europe is ready, says Monsieur Barnier. |
| 0:58.4 | But when Britain will be, and what for, could now depend, despite its being in opposition, on the Labour Party. |
| 1:06.4 | With Brexit about to dominate a hung parliament, Labour's 262 MPs will help to shape the outcome. |
| 1:15.6 | What do they believe and what will determine how they act? |
| 1:19.9 | Step inside the briefing room and find out where Labour stands on Brexit. |
| 1:28.8 | To understand Labour's European present, |
| 1:32.1 | we need to understand its European past. |
| 1:35.6 | Stephen Fielding is a professor of political history |
| 1:38.1 | at the University of Nottingham. |
| 1:39.4 | He gave me this historical briefing, |
| 1:42.5 | starting in the 1960s. |
| 1:48.6 | So in the early 1960s, Hugh Gates'all stood against going in to the then common market. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.