Labour STILL can’t agree on second poll

LABOUR could back a second referendum following the ‘very significant’ march by protesters calling for a final say on brexit, Sir Keir Starmer said yesterday.

The shadow brexit secretary broke ranks with Jeremy Corbyn to praise the so-called People’s Vote rally, which attracted up to 700,000 demonstrators to London on Saturday.

Sir Keir said last month that Labour would vote against any deal struck by Theresa May. The party’s official position is to push for a general election if the deal gets voted down.

but Sir Keir yesterday acknowledged that Labour could not force an election – and sug--

gested it may then switch to backing a second referendum.

he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘If there’s no deal brought back or the deal is voted down, then other options are on the table, one of which is a public vote.

‘And in that public vote no options are ruled out, including the option of Remain.’ Mr Corbyn is reported to have banned shadow ministers from attending Saturday’s march. This was denied yesterday, but no shadow ministers attended. The Labour leader has made no public comment on the march and faced criticism for avoiding it, preferring to spend the day in Geneva, speaking to victims of General Pinochet’s brutal military regime in Chile.

Asked if he would have attended the march in other circumstances, Sir Keir smiled and said: ‘Look, 700,000 people, it’s a very significant number. I think the fact of the march, the size of the march is significant and where people came from. But I think it actually reflects a much, much bigger group, I think both Leave and Remain, who are utterly losing confidence in the Prime Minister’s ability to bring back a deal. So it is significant in itself, but also because it reflects this much bigger concern about where all this is going.’

Mrs May is expected to repeat her opposition to a second referendum today when she briefs MPs on the Brexit negotiations. A handful of Tory MPs attended the march, including former ministers Anna Soubry and Philip Lee, and Commons health committee chairman Sarah Wollaston.

Following a speech to the rally, Mrs Wollaston said the protest meant anti-Brexit campaigners could ‘no longer be ignored’. The MP for Totnes in Devon said: ‘Let people weigh up the pros and cons of the actual deal or no deal that we’re heading for and then they can give their informed consent.’

however, former cabinet minister Greg hands, a Remainer, said a second poll could be ‘highly detrimental’. Nick Boles, another proRemain former minister said: ‘A second referendum would deepen divisions in our country and offer an opening to extremists.’

In a highly unusual move, German economy minister Peter Altmaier – an ally of Angela Merkel – encouraged People’s Vote campaigners. he wrote on Twitter: ‘The People’s Vote march is the most impressive and deeply moving support for Europe I’ve ever seen. Millions across Europe feel with you!’