‘Ignore Brexit.. it happened ages ago’
BY TORCUIL CRICHTON TOM Watson is calling for Labour to campaign for a second Brexit referendum before a general election – arguing that the 2016 ballot is past its sell-by date.
Labour’s deputy leader will today put himself on a collision course with Jeremy Corbyn by declaring that once Parliament comes back in October, MPs must stop a no-deal Brexit and then focus on securing a referendum before an election.
Corbyn and John McDonnell have said Labour will respect the referendum result and suggested they could obtain a better deal to leave the EU which they would then put to a referendum.
But, in a speech in London today, Watson will say: “We are very far past it now, well into the fourth year since the referendum.
“When circumstances are so changed, when so much new information has emerged that we didn’t have in 2016 … it is no longer a valid basis on which to take such a momentous decision about the future of the United Kingdom.”
If there is a general election before a referendum, then Watson argued Labour “must unambiguously and unequivocally back remain”.
He will say: “There is no such thing as a good Brexit deal, which is why I believe we should advocate for remain. That is what the overwhelming majority of Labour party members, MPs and trade unions believe.
“This is not for electoral or tactical reasons, but because it is the right thing to do for the country at this time of the greatest crisis since World War II.”