Labour’s UK election manifesto is leaked - including pledge of no Brexit without Brussels deal

Britain’s opposition Labour party will not allow the country to exit the EU without securing a Brexit deal, if it wins next month’s election, according to a leaked draft manifesto published by several newspapers.

The 43-page document for the June 8 election was due to have an official launch next week but the version that emerged late Wednesday outlines sweeping reforms including re-nationalisation of railways and some tax rises.

Among the pledges, which are yet to be signed off, the party said it would guarantee a “meaningful vote” on the final Brexit agreement and rules out leaving the European Union without a deal with Brussels.

“Labour recognises that leaving the EU with ‘no deal’ is the worst possible deal for Britain and would do damage to our economy and trade.

“We will reject ‘no deal’ as a viable and negotiate transitional arrangements to avoid a cliff-edge for the UK economy,” the draft manifesto said, according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Labour is lagging in the polls, with strong suggestions that leader Jeremy Corbyn’s lack of a clear line on Brexit is to blame.

Corbyn on Tuesday refused five times to answer directly when asked by the BBC if Britain would leave the EU if he was prime minister, although a party source later said there was no question Brexit would happen.