Pat McFadden: Extreme views driving Brexit agenda

The Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East hit out at the UK's political extremes, which he said had been the driving force behind Britain's departure from the EU.

In a House of Commons speech to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of John Smith, Mr McFadden said the former Labour leader would have "been very clear" in his rejection of such divisive views.

Describing Mr Smith as "an internationalist" and a "passionate pro-European", Mr McFadden reflected on how he had broken the party Whip to bring the UK into the European Community "within months of being elected as a young and no doubt ambitious MP".

He added: "The reason he was so passionately in favour of that was fired by social justice: he understood that in a world of international capital, there was a social justice benefit to be gained by controlling markets internationally, and that no country could do that on its own.

"He would have been very clear in his rejection today of the right-wing nationalism that has driven the Brexit agenda, but he would have been just as clear in his rejection of the ossified fantasy of socialism in one country that drives support for Brexit in some corners of the left, too."

Mr McFadden, who was a policy adviser to Mr Smith in the early 1990s, concluded: "I believe that the causes that called John Smith are still relevant today: the battle for social justice, the battle against poverty and inequality, the battle for community to mean something, the battle for the United Kingdom’s European identity, and the battle for strong defence and keeping people secure – for collective security.

​"These things are all relevant today and, in line with his tradition, there are still people prepared to stand up and fight for them."