UK’s Labour walks Brexit tightrope in EU election campaign

LONDON – Britain’s main opposition Labour Party has launched its campaign for the European Parliament election with an attempt to appeal to Brexit-backers and pro-Europeans alike.

Britain was supposed to have left the European Union by now, but Brexit is on hold amid a political deadlock. So Britons will vote May 23 to fill the 73 U.K. seats still in the 751-seat EU legislature.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Thursday that “a vote for Labour is a vote to bring our divided country back together.”

The left-of-centre party favours leaving the EU on its own terms but opposes the Conservative government’s Brexit deal. But many Labour members back a firmer anti-Brexit stance.

Lawmaker Mary Creagh said “if Labour stands in the middle of the road on Brexit we’ll get run over from both directions.”

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