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Some Tory voters will accept Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister if Brexit can be stopped, says Lord Heseltine

Younger Conservatives 'think that Corbyn is an alternative they can live with', Tory grandee warns his party

Deputy Political Editor

Friday 02 March 2018 11:37 GMT

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Lord Heseltine: Some Tory voters will accept Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister if Brexit can be stopped

Some Conservative voters will accept Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister if it means Brexit can be stopped, Lord Heseltine says.

Voters under 40, in particular, are ready to “risk the short-term damage of a Corbyn government” than go ahead with the “calamitous mistake” of leaving the EU, the Tory peer said.

The warning for Theresa May came on the eve of her much-anticipated speech intended to finally set out her detailed strategy for the Brexit negotiations.

And it comes after Sir John Major warned the Government was in such a state that Labour would be “15-20 points” ahead under any other leader.

Lord Heseltine – who, like Sir John, has called for a further referendum to stop Brexit, if necessary – said: “I hate the idea of Jeremy Corbyn in power.”

But he added: “There are increasing numbers of people, particularly the young people under 40, who today think that Corbyn is an alternative they can live with.

“There are Conservatives who feel so strongly about the European issue they would rather risk the short-term damage of a Corbyn government – and let’s not underestimate that – than to see Britain make this calamitous mistake of leaving Europe”.

The former Deputy Prime Minister, speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, also praised the “very brave” Tory MPs willing to defy Ms May to prevent a hard Brexit.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

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1/8The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Post-Brexit immigration

workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Customs union

A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that “Brexit means Brexit” and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UK’s economic outlook become clearer.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Northern Ireland-Irish border

Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Party’s coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a “specific solution” would need to be found.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Transition period

Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Rights of EU citizens living the UK

The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Future trade agreement (with the EU)

Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Future trade agreements (internationally)

The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period.

EPA

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Financial services

Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period.

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They had been derided as traitors and saboteurs, but were following their conscience which “tells them they have to vote for what they believe to be right for Britain”.

Calling for Parliament to be ready to vote down any Brexit deal, Lord Heseltine said: “The fact is that the Prime Minister has no majority for the sort of deal that is being talked about.”

However, Labour has insisted it will not stop Brexit, while leaving open the option of voting against the final deal with the purpose of sending the Prime Minister back into the talks.

Meanwhile, Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, denied that Ms May would be “about cherry-picking” the best bits of EU membership.

He said the Government accepted the UK would not be able to “have everything that we might like” from the EU after Brexit and that some of the current strong rhetoric would “come out in the wash” during the course of the negotiations.

“The Prime Minister will recognise that it is not about cherry-picking, we can't have everything that we might like to have because we are leaving,” Mr Grayling said.

But he also predicted a softening in Brussels' stance, adding: “I talk to my European counterparts all the time.

“What I experience, what my fellow ministers experience, is a genuine desire in other European capitals to maintain a good, close relationship.”

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