On as Khan backs fresh EU vote

0 Khan says a ‘People’s Vote’ would reduce civil unrest

of the UK’S Brexit deal, offering voters the chance to accept the outcome of Theresa May’s negotiation or choose to stay in the EU.

The London mayor had previously said a fresh poll would lead to “even more cynicism”.

But he told the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show it would be wrong to have “watched it all fail and said I told you so.”

He added: “It’s really important that this is not a re-run of the referendum but the British public having a say for the first time on the outcome.”

Mr Corbyn will face intense pressure at Labour’s autumn conference later this month to back a fresh Brexit poll.

Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary and an ally of Mr Corbyn, resisted the London mayor’s call, saying a fresh referendum would give Mrs May a lifeline.

He told Sky’s Ridge On Sunday programme: “Calling for a second referendum is really giving her a lifeline because then she can say ‘Oh, if I can’t get it through Parliament I’ll go back to the people.’”

Mr Gardiner said the first referendum had caused “real divisions” in the country. “I think the challenge now is to try to heal society,” he said.

Labour has not taken the option of another referendum off the table.

“The reason we have not ruled anything out is because nobody knows what’s going to happen over the next few weeks,” he said.

Scottish Labour’s Brexit spokesman, Neil Findlay MSP, said: “The Labour Party is leading the fight against the Tory threat of a no-deal Brexit. This will be our focus over the coming weeks and months.”