European polls: Labour leader Corbyn refuses to clearly back another Brexit referendum

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Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : May 27 2019 | 9:30 PM IST

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Monday refused to explicitly back the idea of a fresh Brexit referendum after the party's dismal performance in the European Parliament elections.

Corbyn said any deal with the European Union should be put to a "public vote".

His statement came despite increasing calls from within the Labour Party to back a fresh Brexit referendum. In the first referendum held on June 23, 2016, 51.9 per cent of those voting supported Britain leaving the EU.

Senior Labour figures including deputy leader Tom Watson and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry have called for Labour to be clearer in its support for a fresh Brexit referendum.

"We had a very clear policy all along," Corbyn said.

"We will call for a general election and a referendum to decide on the future," the BBC quoted Corbyn as saying.

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When asked if he would back a second referendum, and campaign for the UK to remain in the EU, he said there should be "an agreement made" (with the EU) which would then be "put to a public vote".

Corbyn also denied claims from Labour MP David Lammy that the party had "tried to ride two horses" and "fell flat on our faces".

Labour has tried to keep both Leave and Remain supporters on side by saying it accepts the result of the 2016 Brexit vote but also keeping the option of another referendum on the table if it is unable to force a general election or achieve a Brexit deal with the Tories it can endorse.

"What we've tried to do is bring people together, whether they voted Leave or Remain, they still face problems of a Tory government in disintegration," Corbyn said.

The Labour leader said the party was "listening carefully" to its members and supporters - who would be consulted before the issue was brought back to the party's conference in September.

The UK was to leave the EU on March 29 and the European elections were never meant to happen, but the inability of the House of Commons to agree on how to leave the 28-member trading bloc has left the country in limbo.

Meanwhile, shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the BBC another referendum may be the only way to break the Brexit deadlock.

Faced with the prospect of a "Brexiteer extremist" leading the Conservative Party, McDonnell said Labour would back a fresh Brexit vote to prevent a "catastrophic" no-deal scenario.

"Of course we want a general election, but realistically, after last night there aren't many Tory MPs who're going to vote for a general election - it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas - so our best way of doing that is going back to the people in a referendum," he said.

"If there can be a deal, great, but it needs to go back to the people," he added.

With only Northern Ireland results left to declare, Labour is on 14 per cent of the vote - worse than the party's previous low in 2009 - and finished in fifth place in Scotland.

Across Britain, it is in third place, behind the Liberal Democrats (20 per cent) and the Brexit Party (32 per cent).

Deputy leader Tom Watson said the party needed "a change of direction urgently" following the "disastrous" results.

In a statement, he said the likely election of a "hardline Brexiteer" as Conservative leader put additional pressure on Labour to change its approach.

"Labour is rightly calling for a general election. But we cannot go into an election with our current Brexit position."

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First Published: May 27 2019 | 9:30 PM IST

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