UK's Labour walks Brexit tightrope in EU election campaign

Britain's Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn launches his party's European election campaign at the University of Kent in Chatham, Thursday May 9, 2019. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

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-center party favors 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."

___

For more news from The Associated Press on the European Parliament elections go to https://www.apnews.com/EuropeanParliament