Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Second EU vote risks civil unrest
Top Labour MP fears far right boost
CIVIL disobedience could erupt if a second EU referendum is held, says a Labour frontbencher.
Barry Gardiner warned people could turn to “socially-disruptive ways of expressing their views”.
The Shadow International Trade Secretary’s comments come despite growing support among Labour and Tory MPS for a new vote on the final Brexit deal.
But critics say such a vote would betray the 2016 52%48% vote to leave the EU.
Mr Gardiner said both Remain and Leave campaigners argued the 2016 vote would define the UK’S future for 40 or 50 years. He said: “Those people who want a second referendum are now saying ‘because you voted in the wrong way, we’ll give you another chance to get it right’. That undermines the whole principle of democracy.” He warned denying the result could boost the far right. “You never give as much succour to the extreme right as when you cut off the mechanism of democratic change,” he said. “If people want to achieve change through democratic means, if they feel that is being denied to them, they then turn to other more socially disruptive ways of expressing their views.”
Labour does not back a second poll but has not ruled one out either.
Leader Jeremy Corbyn would not comment but said: “There are no plans for a second referendum.”
But Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said Mr Gardiner was ignoring “the democratic right of the people to change their minds”.
Ex-foreign Secretary Lord Hague has warned changing Tory leadership contest rules to give grassroots members more say could boost Boris Johnson’s chances of becoming PM.