Remain campaigners vow to ‘stop the Brexit train wreck’
LEADING Remain campaigners have vowed to exploit the “meaningful vote” on Brexit in a bid to “sway public opinion” and keep the UK in the EU.
Tory rebels last week defeated the Government as they succeeded in forcing ministers to enshrine a vote on the final Brexit deal in law.
While the pro-european Tories denied that they were trying to block Brexit, a leading Remain campaigner has now vowed to use the vote to try to “stop the train wreck” of Brexit.
Lord Malloch-brown, a former Labour foreign minister and senior diplomat, is to take a lead role in trying to coordinate opposition to Brexit.
It came as Labour’s front bench clashed over the possibility of a second EU referendum. Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show that “the Labour Party doesn’t support a second referendum”.
But speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics just minutes after his colleague’s comments, Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, said “you shouldn’t rule anything out” when engaged in “complex negotiations”.
Lord Malloch-brown told The Guardian: “The aim will be to shift public opinion by the time MPS come next autumn to have the meaningful vote that was agreed last week. We cannot know precisely the deal that the meaningful vote will be on, but it will be the moment to stop the train wreck.”
Calls to frustrate the Brexit process were quickly condemned as undemocratic by Eurosceptic MPS. Andrew Rosindell, the MP for Romford, said: “These people will be judged by history, denial of democracy and a shameful underhanded attempt to derail the will of the people.”