Poll choice for Labour

Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, has had a lower profile than his predecessor Boris Johnson. But Mr Khan has evidently had enough of standing in the shadows and has emerged to join the clamour for a second referendum on the UK’S membership of the EU. Pressure is cranking up on the Labour leadership ahead of the party’s annual conference next week to commit to holding a second vote. Last week, the TUC called for another referendum and a crunch debate is expected at Labour’s conference which could commit Jeremy Corbyn to support the “People’s Vote”.

While not entirely ruling out another referendum, Labour has so far insisted that it is not seeking to undo the June 2016 decision in which 17.4m voted to leave the EU and some 16m voted to stay. But were the party conference to pass a resolution in favour of another referendum, that would tie Mr Corbyn to the policy and set up an almighty clash in parliament.

Proponents of a second poll invariably claim that they are not trying to reverse the earlier vote but merely want a say on the terms when Theresa May secures them, if she ever does. But Mr Khan gave the game away by calling for a three-option referendum, with voters offered a choice between remaining in the EU, accepting the Government’s deal with Brussels or leaving with no deal.

Since this would almost certainly result in the winning option having the support of fewer than 50 per cent of participants in the referendum it is neither democratic nor is it likely to mend the deep fissures that have been opened by Brexit. Indeed, it would make them far worse.

Mr Khan should step back into his well-deserved obscurity.