Hopes of new Brexit poll rise

Hopes for a second referendum on EU membership are rising in Britain amid heightened uncertainty over Brexit, but big hurdles remain – from the timing to legal complexities on both sides of the Channel.

Prime Minister Theresa May is struggling to convince British lawmakers to back her Brexit deal – formally signed off by EU leaders last weekend – in a key vote in parliament on December 11.

If it is voted down, what happens next remains highly uncertain. But the backers of a “People’s Vote” argue it opens up an opportunity to ask Britons to think again.

“There is a growing momentum behind the campaign for a second referendum,” an analyst with research consultancy TS Lombard, Constantine Fraser, said.

“It will become a serious option on the table if, or more likely when, Theresa May’s deal is voted down.”

The pro-EU Best for Britain group on Saturday launched a new advertising campaign on vans targeting the districts of “key MPs like Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn”.

The support of the opposition party, which has delivered mixed messages on the issue, is seen as crucial to force another poll.

The hopes of second-referendum advocates were further strengthened by EU president Donald Tusk on Friday.

Speaking at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Tusk said a rejection of the deal by the British parliament would leave just two options – “no deal or no Brexit at all”.

There are significant structural barriers to a second vote, according to analysts.

“You would need the government to actually table a proposal, have a vote in favour of it, which would require cross-party support,” Nick Wright, a fellow in EU politics at University College London, said.

Even if MPs did coalesce around another poll, legal and practical problems loom.

Britain has legislated to leave the EU on March 29 2019, after triggering Article 50 two years earlier.

It is unclear if the Article 50 process could be paused or reversed unilaterally. –