Strudel wrote: ↑Mon Feb 18, 2019 3:47 pm
"The other side are rubbish" isn't a position though. He can't negotiate a different deal even if he were in power because the EU have already said the deal is there; take it or leave it. His position is exactly the same as Theresa May in that he says he'll go back to Brussels and get a better deal. Brussels aren't going to change the deal just because someone else is asking them to.
Wasn't it Juncker or Tusk who said a while back that they'd consider renegotiation if there was another party in charge after an election?
As to asking for a referendum before asking for an election, he's already asked for an election and it was rejected only a month ago. So again, he doesn't actually have a position other than "I can do better" which isn't a position at all.
As I understand it, he can keep calling for elections, which would probably end the same way because the DUP will cling to power at any cost. The point is that his position isn't so much "I can do better" as "May can't do any better, she's had her chances; let Labour have a try". They've laid out what they would ask for. This isn't the simple Tory-bashing that you're suggesting it is.
As much as I'd like a second referendum, I don't agree that it would be a better move for Corbyn or Labour to support that in the current situation until they've been given a chance at negotiation. It's a moot point because May is running down the clock by doing precisely nothing.