Labour’s campaign and elections boss, Jon Trickett, sought permission from Jeremy Corbyn to “amplify” criticism of the EU and wanted to vote leave in the run-up to the June referendum.

The Labour leader’s close ally said the party should counter the views of “loads of Labour Euro-fanatics” as they formulated a response to David Cameron’s EU renegotiation deal in February.



The disclosure in leaked emails will raise further questions about the commitment of Corbyn’s team to the remain campaign before Britain voted to leave the EU.



Both Cameron and Alan Johnson, a senior Labour figure, have accused Corbyn’s office of undermining the remain campaign, and there was a wave of shadow cabinet resignations following the result.

Owen Smith, who is challenging Corbyn for the leadership of the party, has also accused him of failing to do enough during the campaign to bring out Labour voters.

Trickett has said he had no formal role in the EU referendum campaign and that Corbyn personally persuaded him to vote remain following the email exchange.



The emails in question were written in February, on the day Cameron claimed to have made major breakthroughs in negotiations with partner states in the European Union through the European Council. The then prime minister claimed the government had made progress in its attempts to put an “emergency brake” on benefits for EU citizens.

In the leaked emails, Corbyn sent Trickett two documents in confidence, setting out how the party might respond to the government’s announcements.



“Please find two documents setting out how we handle the government announcements over the weekend,” he wrote.

Trickett, the MP for Hemsworth, replied: “My own personal reaction to this is that it is too pro-EU. Nonetheless, it is true that I am probably in a minority of one on the question of Europe.

“I would like permission to amplify the critical, pro-reform part of the agenda on the basis that I accept that I can’t follow my instinct to vote and campaign for ‘no’. There will be loads of Labour Euro-fanatics pressing an uncritical case; so at least one of us needs to speak to the hundreds of thousands of Labour voters who are (correctly) sceptical of the EU.



“On the question of the emergency brake, I accept entirely the contents of the document. However, if I read the last shadow cabinet correctly, we will have a major battle on our hands inside the party. We will need a clear strategy to avoid defeat inside the shadow cabinet on Tuesday.



“I am copying John McD, Seumas and Simon into this note,” – a reference to the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, Labour’s head of communications, Seumas Milne, and Simon Fletcher, Corbyn’s chief of staff.

Speaking to the Guardian, Trickett said he was wary of supporting the remain campaign wholeheartedly when he sent the email, but his views on the referendum changed shortly afterwards and he had voted to remain.



John Trickett said Corbyn persuaded him to vote remain in the referendum. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer

“We needed to speak for people who have reservations about Europe and were looking for a reason to vote for it but weren’t satisfied with how it works. I wanted to make sure that voice was heard. It was,” he said.



“I don’t know if Jeremy ever saw the email but not soon after, I explained to Jeremy what my position was. He said: ‘Look Jon, we are for remain’ and set out the reasons why we should argue to remain but reform the EU. I thought ‘there is some logic to that’, I went away, thought about it and told him: ‘You’re right, you convinced me’,” he said.



Corbyn and many of his key allies have been long-term critics of the EU. In 1993, he spoke out against the Maastricht Treaty, which established the EU and moved towards economic and political union.



During the campaign, he argued in favour of remaining and reforming the EU and has dismissed claims that he undermined the Labour remain campaign or failed to bring out the Labour vote.

A source close to Corbyn’s office said the leader’s overall “remain and reform” position on the EU was not contested within the shadow cabinet, although there was debate over emphasis.

The source added that the email exchange with Trickett was part of an internal dialogue over how to respond to the government’s EU renegotiation.



Polls in June showed that many voters were unaware that the Labour party’s official position was to vote remain.



On the day of the referendum result, Corbyn angered many MPs by calling for article 50 to be enacted immediately.

In response to the email, Johnson, who led the Labour In campaign, said Trickett’s views and his dialogue with Corbyn did not surprise him.

“Corbyn’s office was dominated by a bunch of amateurs who refused to examine how their remain and reform strategy would go down with voters,” he said. “Everyone agrees that Europe must be reformed. We tried time and again to get Corbyn and those around him to engage with evidence from focus groups that there was no point sending out a mixed message.

“But they were dead set on ignoring the evidence and ploughing on with a ‘reform and remain’ agenda. It gave the public a whole list of things that were wrong with Europe but then asked them to stay in.”

