LONDON (AP) — Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is defending his decision to remain neutral in a possible future referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union.

Corbyn said Saturday that he plans to be an “honest broker” in a Brexit referendum rather than urge voters to remain in the EU or leave under terms of a new deal he would negotiate if he becomes prime minister after the Dec. 12 election.

He said at a campaign event in Sheffield that “my role as the Labour prime minister would be to ensure that is carried out in a fair way ... and that I will carry out the result of that referendum.”

Corbyn announced Friday night he would be neutral, a position assailed Saturday by Conservatives, Liberal Democratic and Brexit Party figures.

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