Nicola Sturgeon accuses Jeremy Corbyn of deliberately misleading voters over single market membership

Nicola Sturgeon has accused Jeremy Corbyn of deliberately misleading voters over UK membership of the single market after Brexit.

In a tweet, the First Minister said the Labour leader’s continued insistence that single market membership was dependent on being part of the EU was not true and suggested he was failing his supporters by repeating the claim.

“Saying this once could be a simple mistake,” Sturgeon tweeted.

 “Continuing to say it when you know it is inaccurate can only be an attempt to mislead people. On single market, why does Corbyn insist on being so out of touch with both the views of his own supporters and the best interests of economy?”

Speaking on ITV's Peston on Sunday this morning, Corbyn said being in “the single market is dependent on membership of the EU”.

Labour MP Stephen Doughty also criticised the stance on Twitter, saying that voters had not opted to leave the single market in the EU referendum. 

Iceland, Norway, and Lichenstein all have access to the single market via the European Economic Area (EEA).

If Britain were to join the EEA it would also become a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

This would give the UK access to free trade between the three countries in the EEA and Switzerland, while leaving it free to pursue trade deals with other nations.