Pro-Corbyn Momentum group will not campaign in the EU referendum

The Momentum group, the grassroots movement working within the Labour party to advance 'Corbynite' issues, will not campaign in the EU referendum. Jemery Corbyn himself has expressed Euroscepticism frequently in the past, and despite the Labour party's official position of being pro-Eu, many have doubted Corbyn's personal commitment to 'the European Project'. Labour is also coming  under increasing criticism by pro-EU groups for not being more active in the debate.

Momentum, the grassroots movement of Jeremy Corbyn supporters, is not mobilising its tens of thousands of members to campaign on the EU referendum at this stage and may remain neutral throughout the contest, the group has said.

In what is arguably a setback for Labour’s remain campaign, the movement said some local groups may be doing their own work, but fighting for the party in the mayoral, devolved and local elections was the first priority.

Momentum’s position is not likely to be revisited until the second week of May – almost three months after David Cameron kicked off the campaign by announcing the date for the poll.



A spokesman for Momentum said: “It wasn’t one of the priorities set at the first meeting so it has not been debated yet and we are more focused on the local elections in Wales, Scotland, London, Bristol and [other places]. Some groups are taking a decision to work on it now autonomously. But we are not making an intervention at this stage. We might do but we won’t necessarily. The next meeting is likely to be in the second week of May and it’s likely to be discussed then.”

Momentum’s reluctance to intervene at this stage is likely to disappoint those campaigning on the left against Brexit, many of whom are anxious about turnout among traditional Labour voters and younger people who support the EU.

Caroline Lucas, the Green MP and former leader, warned on Thursday night that the UK was at risk of “sleepwalking out of the EU” unless Labour’s leadership did more to campaign in favour of British membership.



Lucas, who sits on the board of the Britain Stronger In Europe campaign, said she was concerned about the “relative silence from the Labour leadership” on the EU debate, although the party takes a collective position in favour of remaining in the union.

Corbyn has made clear that he is in favour of staying in the EU but has expressed Eurosceptic opinions in the past and has repeatedly stressed he is “not on the same side” as Cameron, describing the UK’s Brussels deal as an irrelevant sideshow.

Stressing that she was not mounting an attack on Corbyn, Lucas said she was worried that Labour was not making a loud and positive enough case for staying in the EU and argued the party needs a “friendly nudge” to improve its campaigning.

In a Spectator blog, Lucas said: “The views of the Labour leadership matter – and complacency could increase the chances of Britain sleepwalking out of the EU. I’ve no doubt that sitting back and watching civil war in the Tory party is tempting – but to do so in the hope of boosting progressive politics would simply be cutting off our nose to spite our face.”

Speaking to the Guardian, Lucas said the remain campaign needed a better, more positive message for young people who were instinctively in favour of the EU, in order to motivate them to vote. She said low turnout in such groups was “a real risk” and that the in campaign needed to be clear that “nothing is in the bag and the polling shows that”.

The blunt message that needs to be conveyed to young people is that they must “turn around to the Brexiteers and say ‘we do not want these old farts to steal our future’ and we need to mobilise them to realise that this is a fight for their generation,” she said.

Matthew Goodwin, a professor of politics at the University of Kent, has raised the possibility of turnout working against the remain campaign.

He posed the question: “What if the more pro-EU voters – the financially secure, higher income and university educated middle-classes, and the 18 to 30-year-olds – decide that they simply cannot be bothered to vote? This would contrast sharply to evidence which suggests that the leave camp’s core followers – white pensioners – will be more determined to register their anti-EU views.”

The Green MP’s argument that young people need a more positive case echoes the comments of Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader, who said the prime minister needed to learn from the lessons of the Scottish referendum not to be so “miserable, negative and fear-based”.

Cameron has been accused of relying too heavily on warnings that Brexit would be bad for the economy and national security in a strategy that Eurosceptics are calling Project Fear.

A number of senior cabinet ministers are also making a less than positive case about staying in, with Sajid Javid, the business secretary, pledging on Thursday to remain a “Brussels basher” despite endorsing the campaign to keep Britain in the EU.

In lukewarm comments about the UK’s membership, the senior Conservative emphasised his “very difficult decision” to campaign on the side of the prime minister.

But he said he made the choice because the risks of exit were too great, even though it may have harmed his career prospects within the predominantly Eurosceptic Conservative party.

Javid told the annual conference of the British Chambers of Commerce in London: “I have no time for closer political union and never have and never will. In many ways I am a Eurosceptic, absolutely. I am still a Brussels basher and will remain so.”

Challenged about how his unenthusiastic position would inspire voters for the remain camp, Javid said he had “huge respect for people on both sides of the debate” and it was a “very difficult decision for so many people”.

However, some Conservatives in the remain campaign are waking up to the significance of mobilising the Labour vote if they are to win the referendum, even though many may be reluctant to back arguments made by Cameron.

One senior Tory source close to the in campaign said they were not counting on Corbyn to help deliver them many votes and instead wanted to deploy a number of grandees from Labour’s past to help make the argument – such as former home and foreign secretaries.

Labour sources in the in camp said it was too premature to worry about the level of enthusiasm but pointed to the party’s campaign day last Saturday as evidence of its active campaigning already.