Corbyn gets the message, at last

JEREMY Corbyn has finally signalled that Labour will back a second referendum in a Commons vote.

It has taken the departure of nine MPs and the threatened departure of many more to lead the anti-EU leader of the opposition towards change.

He does so for tactical reasons, of course. But this is still a welcome move to wrestle the country from the Brexit black hole.

By formally moving Labour on to a referendum footing, Corbyn has more or less denied the new Independent Group their main reason for existing as the one unifying policy they have is a call for a second poll.

Corbyn knows that parliamentary arithmetic is still stacked against a second referendum.

So, does he back it now in the knowledge it may not come to pass and insure himself against the charge that he has actually done little to oppose Brexit?

But not so fast, and maybe not so cynical.

The about-turn by the Labour leader is a tremendous win for People’s Vote campaigners and the tireless work of Keir Starmer, Labour’s sensible Brexit spokesman, who has been leading the horse to water for many months now.

If Labour has arrived at the river too late to be effective remains to be seen.

But at least there is now another hope that a second referendum, declared politically dead a month ago, might resurface as a viable plan.