Brexit rethink push

Labour leader gets behind calls for fresh vote on leaving EU

BRITAIN’S main opposition Labour Party has thrown its weight behind efforts to hold a new referendum on the country’s European Union membership.

The party has previously said it would support a referendum as a last resort if it could not secure a new election or make changes to Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU divorce deal.

In a change of emphasis, the party says leader Jeremy Corbyn told Labour MPs on Monday that the party is committed to “putting forward or supporting an amendment in favour of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country”.

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 but Parliament has so far rejected the deal struck between the government and the bloc. Parliament is due to hold a series of votes on Wednesday on next steps in the Brexit process.

British Prime Minister Theresa May remains convinced March 29 remains a realistic Brexit date, despite the EU urging Britain to delay its departure from the bloc to avoid a chaotic rupture.

Mrs May said after meeting with several EU leaders at a summit in Egypt that “it is within our grasp to leave with a deal on 29th of March and I think that that is where all of our energies should be focused.”

She said that “any delay is a delay. It doesn’t address the issue. It doesn’t resolve the issue.”

Moments earlier, EU Council president Donald Tusk had said a delay would be the “rational solution”. Mr Tusk said the chances of a Brexit deal being sealed were receding and he was urging Mrs May to request that the negotiations be prolonged.

Mr Tusk said: “It’s clear that there is no majority in the House of Commons to approve a deal. I believe that in the situation that we are in, an extension would be a rational solution.”