Labour split looms over Brexit as leadership backs a second vote

Left-wing Leave voters could see party activists force through commitment to a second referendum

JEREMY CORBYN is facing a damaging Labour split after agreeing to back a second Brexit referendum if it is demanded by members at the party conference.

More than 150 Constituency Associations are demanding that Labour supports calls for a second poll. The issue will be voted on formally tomorrow.

Mr Corbyn said he would be “bound” by any formal decision but refused to say whether he would support leaving the EU.

Len Mccluskey, the general secretary of Unite – the country’s biggest trade union and Labour’s main financial backer – yesterday attempted to block the formal adoption of the referendum plan by demanding that any vote should not include a question about staying in the EU.

The issue threatens to divide Labour, with millions of core voters backing Brexit while tens of thousands of the party’s new young members support Remain.

Last night, Labour Party officials were locked in talks about the proposed motion to be put before the conference. There were reports that the motion may run to six pages with only a passing reference to a possible referendum, which would not be binding on the Labour leadership.

Thousands of pro-remain supporters yesterday marched outside the conference as a poll found 86 per cent of party members think voters should have the final say on the outcome of Brexit negotiations, while 90 per cent would now vote to remain in the EU.

Labour frontbenchers have long maintained that all options should be left on the table in the event that Mrs May’s deal with Brussels is voted down by Parliament.

Mr Corbyn’s comments represented a significant change and put him on a collision course with some key trade union backers. The Labour leader said the party was “having a debate” on the issue of another referendum and that “we’ll come to a conclusion on that”.

But Mr Corbyn insisted he would be “bound” by what conference decides. He said: “Obviously, I’m there elected as a leader of this party, elected as the leader in order to bring great democracy to this party, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past three years.”

Mr Corbyn said there would be a “clear vote” on the matter this week but that his preference would be for a general election rather than another referendum.

“Let’s see what comes out of conference and then obviously I’m bound by the democracy of our party,” he told the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show.

Mr Mccluskey said Labour must not campaign for another Brexit referendum and that if another national vote did take place it should not include the option of the UK staying in the EU.

He told the BBC: “The people have voted on that. People are talking at the moment about a ‘people’s vote’. We have already had a people’s vote – they voted to come out of the European Union.

“For us now to enter into some kind of campaign that opens up that issue again I think would be wrong.”