Why would Jeremy Corbyn or any other decent left member of the labour party or socialist campaign whole heartedly for remaining in the EU?

At best the reaction to the question of "should we stay or should we go" is a luke warm yes to remaining. It was therefore of no surprise to hear Jeremy Corbyn, when pushed, to say that on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being to leave & 10 overwhelming support) he was about 7 for remaining a member, (about one point up from my own position).

The EU has never been a body that supports a democratic internationalist socialist outlook or programme. It was and remains at heart a club for the free movement of capital and the only reason for the free movement of labour was that that was necessary of the free movement of capital.

It is not democratic, and the actions of Blair, Mandelson, et al made this even worse for the British Electorate by introducing the "list" system for candidates.

They turned what were already too large constituencies into even larger ones where local labour party members had no say in selection. Acceptance onto the list, and then crucially position on the list, being determined by the party machine. The most essential qualification being that of who was the most sebaceous sycophant with the longest brown nose. It was designed to get ride of the "awkward squad" on labour MEPs, ensuring that those who remained were always "on message". In so doing they also wrecked an already weak link between MEPs in their electorate. (The Euro constituency where I live covers most of Yorkshire and the Humber.)

The E U was for a small number of people the greatest gravy train in the world. It was over bureaucratic and took far too much power to itself.

However, it was probably large enough to stand up against some of the massive international corporations that now dominate international trade, exploiting cheap labour in one country and dodging paying their taxes in another. It has put the brakes on some of the worst right wing excesses of various governments and has helped to raise a number of social standards.

It is absolutely shameful that many labour MPs have fallen into the trap laid by the Tories who wanted to stay and their friends in the media of laying blame at the door of others. They may well live to regret this.