Brexit: New video shows Jeremy Corbyn vowing to 'defeat' the EU before he became party leader
The footage will raise further questions for those aggravated that the party is not yet supporting a second referendum
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Your support makes all the difference.Jeremy Corbyn vowed to “defeat” the European Union after accusing it of supressing the British economy in a tub-thumping rally speech before he became party leader.
The Labour MP claimed the EU had worked in cahoots with “the world’s bankers” in creating unemployment and called on all those campaigning for “peace, justice and socialism” to oppose the bloc.
The emergence of the film follows that of another last week, in which Mr Corbyn warned of the EU becoming a “European Empire” which was creating a “military Frankenstein”.
It comes amid growing frustration among some in his party that Mr Corbyn is yet to commit to backing a new referendum on the UK’s EU membership, something for which there is strong support among party members.
The new footage from 2010 shows Mr Corbyn saying: “They – the world’s bankers, International Monetary Fund, European Union – they are utterly united in what they want, utterly united in deflation, suppressing the economy and creating unemployment, utterly united in that.
“We need to be equally united. Not just across every union in this country, across every community in this country and every social demand in this country, but all across Europe and internationally to show that the voice of those campaigning for peace, justice and socialism will not be silenced by these people.
“We will win through. We will defeat them and we will win that decency that we want in this world.”
Five days ago a separate video emerged of Mr Corbyn speaking in 2009 in which he argued that the Lisbon Treaty would create a “military Frankenstein”.
He went on that if the treaty was blocked it would be “such a boost to people like us” who “do not want to live in a European empire of the 21st century.”
A Labour Party spokeswoman said the leader is “proud of his longstanding record of campaigning for internationalism, social justice and for an investment-led economy.”
Addressing the new video directly, the spokeswoman added: “Jeremy was speaking out against the austerity that the IMF, the EU and the world’s bankers were forcing on the people of Europe at the time and calling for people to work across borders to defeat austerity and build an economy that works for the many not the few.”
But the video will once again raise questions for some over how upset the party leader would really be if the UK failed to secure a deal with the bloc.
Mr Corbyn has been accused by Remain-backing MPs in his own party of failing to give proper support to a new referendum, something the Independent has campaigned for in its Final Say campaign.
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