Jeremy Corbyn, the British politician who has been serving as Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition since 2015 in the UK, is now trying to provide the ground for his own victory and the Labor Party in the country’s possible election in 2019. It seems that after his success in defeating figures such as Tony Blair, he has more incentives for pursuing his goals.
This is in spite of the fact that Corbyn is still facing opposition inside the Labor Party and, of course, rival parties. Opponents who, from the beginning of Corbyn’s presence as the leader of the Labor Party, didn’t have a positive view on his presence as the party’s candidate in the upcoming general election.
At the beginning of Corbyn’s presence in the Labor Party, the security institutions and opposition parties in the UK, and even some inter-party opponents, explicitly referred to him as a dangerous person at the head of the Party’s equations and wanted to curb his activities.
These institutions and individuals believed that Corbyn would soon disagree with the structure of the British royal system. Even two years ago, British sources reported about Corbyn’s negative attitude to the royal system and his support for Republicans. However, the leader of the Labor Party was silent against some of these allegations and denied some others.
Recently, while criticizing the agreement reached between Prime Minister Theresa May and European leaders over the Brexit, Corbyn announced a resumption of talks with European leaders (in the event of a government change). However, European officials, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have emphasized that there will be no further talks between the two sides on how to leave the EU.
Of course, Merkel has emphasized that the European Union has made contributions to London to facilitate its exit from the EU!
Jeremy Corbyn is now focusing on the most important issue in British foreign policy. Corbyn is determined to force EU leaders to resume talks on Brexit through changing the British government. Following his relative victory in the previous general election in Britain, Corbyn found a lot of power in the Labor Party.
With no doubt, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labor Party was the winner of the last year’s election in Britain. Jeremy Corbyn could prevent the Conservatives to win the majority of the House of Commons’ seats within a very short time (about a month and a half).
Certainly, if Corbyn and his companions were not involved, Theresa May would achieve her goal of winning the majority of seats in the House of Commons. Of course, the conservative leaders and some British analysts accused Corbyn of using populist methods in the previous election. But the leader of the Labor Party denied all the accusations.
We are currently witnessing the strengthening of Jeremy Corbyn’s position at the head of the Labor Party in the UK. Corbyn has now entered the scene with one specific goal: Brexit. Corbyn’s inner-party opponents sought to provide ground for his removal after the party’s estimated defeat in the last year’s general election. As mentioned, politicians such as the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (from the Labor Party) has been among the main opponents of Corbyn’s presence in the leadership of the party.
The Guardian wrote accordingly; “While Corbyn has already faced criticism from the centrist wing of his party, which has long been skeptical of his approach to Brexit, the expressions of dismay from his base will raise concerns of broader disillusionment with his strategy”.
This British newspaper also noted that following Corbyn’s interview with the Guardian on Saturday, in which he said he would recommend the party advocates Brexit in the event of a fresh vote and criticized EU laws on state aid, which he said blocked investment, Momentum activists and MPs from Labor’s left who have consistently backed Jeremy Corbyn have warned the leader’s decision to support Brexit even if there is a second referendum could demotivate campaigners and cost the party seats.
While the EU’s deadline for the UK is about to expire, the internal and foreign policy in Britain remain foggy. Under such circumstances, it’s not clear that how would Theresa May direct and manage the Brexit negotiations. The UK’s delay in beginning the negotiations, and the recent events in the country’s parliamentary elections has caused European leaders not to have a positive outlook towards the talks.
The fact is that Theresa May couldn’t achieve her determined goals during the negotiations with Brussels. The critical attitudes among the conservatives, Jeremy Corbyn’s stances, and the worried face of the European leaders…, all these factors hurt the British Prime Minister at this critical period.
First published in our partner MNA