It is too bad how The Guardian has so many reporters who do not like British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and so have lost their ability to comprehend what should have been understood by most reporters and editors at The Guardian. Please read this article which followed this other article, which was an interview with Corbyn.
The headlines in The Guardian articles are misleading. Corbyn does not want to say he is definitively for or against Brexit. Instead, Corbyn wants negotiation leverage if he assumes the prime minister position. For years, Corbyn railed against the EU, not for the reason right wingers in Great Britain do, which is a xenophobic sort of nationalist reason. Corbyn's critique of the EU remains largely the same as Yanis Varoufakis' critique of the EU, which is the EU is worth supporting and developing, but too often has been led by those who are pro-austerity and who have pro-bankers' interests. See this interview (starting at the 20 minute mark) between the two men, where one sees how wise Corbyn is on the subject of the EU and Brexit, and how he speaks to the conflicting views of the majority of British citizens--if only the British media would allow people to listen.
Corbyn wants to leverage Brexit negotiations to secure reforms within the EU, which is admittedly a daunting task. If, however, the Brits crawl back to the EU, existing EU policies, and what the bankers who control the EU will demand during the next, inevitable recession, will likely push Great Britain further toward a status of a PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) nation. Corbyn, like Bernie Sanders here in the US, often bristles at corporate media triviality which has the effect of obscuring pressing policy issues affecting millions of people. The interview is well worth reading as one sees, in the interview, his bristling at the latest trivial things the British media is covering.
Knowing how much the British media owners (and, in the case of the BBC, executive officers) which media ownership unfortunately includes The Guardian, do not like Corbyn, and never have (Chapter 10 of the Nunns book linked to here), the British media is now expected to promote the nation's "third" party, The Liberal Democratic Party, whose leaders will promise to be good little boys and girls to the European bankers-parents. We can expect to see British media propaganda over the next months calling The Liberal Democratic Party leaders "responsible and serious" through their wanting to "steadfastly remain" with the EU, though their idea of "remain" is to allow the EU's banker interests to continue to predominate. This is a dangerous time for the British electorate, as the Liberal Democrats will end up pursuing much of the same austerity policies as the Tories, and, as the nation continues to suffer, the Liberal Democrats will be more willing to privatize important public institutions.
Again, the British media has always hated Corbyn. They perceive, correctly, Corbyn is not "one of us," meaning them. This is partly why the British media never misses a trick to trivialize and criticize Corbyn. This also explains the breathless headline in The Guardian, when, in other circumstances, The Guardian's editors would know better. For those Labour MPs who are wavering about Corbyn's position on the EU, they better get their acts together, watch the interview Varoufakis does with Corbyn from a few months ago, greet and remind their constituents as to how the EU treated nations such as Greece, and make sure they stand with Corbyn, whose election to prime minister will present an historic opportunity for cross-border agitation against the EU banker interests. The EU can be a wonderful institution which can truly lead to a peaceful unification of Europe, and, in the process, help people across the continent--and our planet. However, right now, too many in the "Remain" position are forgetting how the EU's current bankers' perspective has helped fuel a rise in fascism, and xenophobic, nationalist parties, throughout much of the continent--something even someone at The Guardian has noticed.
Oh well. I am not currently optimistic a sufficient number of Brits will listen to the above perspective, just as I found many Greeks did not have the stomach for a "general strike" approach to the EU when Varoufakis was trying to rally Greek citizens.
UPDATE January 4, 2019: Bernard Porter, who has written books on the British empire (see here and here), has written a post dated December 28, 2018 at the London Review of Books website, showing he essentially agrees with me. At least someone who understands British society and politics still has some comprehension and politically strategic abilities. :)
UPDATE January 4, 2019: Bernard Porter, who has written books on the British empire (see here and here), has written a post dated December 28, 2018 at the London Review of Books website, showing he essentially agrees with me. At least someone who understands British society and politics still has some comprehension and politically strategic abilities. :)
