Corbyn deputy wants second referendum as party policy
JEREMY CORBYN last night faced an open revolt by his deputy Tom Watson over a second referendum, after he publicly called on Labour activists to bring about a change in party policy.
In a bid to ratchet up pressure on the Labour leader, Mr Watson singled out members of the party’s governing body and urged activists to lobby them into backing a second referendum under all circumstances.
In a surprise move, he was backed by Jon Lansman, the Momentum founder, who said: “At [the Labour conference] we agreed: if the Government is confident in negotiating a deal that working people, our economy and communities will benefit from they should not be afraid to put that deal to the public.
“So surely we, too, can all agree to a confirmatory vote on any government deal in our manifesto.”
Mr Watson’s intervention comes as Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) is to hold a crunch meeting tomorrow, when officials will sign off on the party’s manifesto pledges for next month’s European elections.
While allies of Mr Corbyn are determined to keep Labour’s Brexit policy the same, Mr Watson yesterday went over their heads by appealing to the party’s Europhile members.
In a tweet picking out the nine NEC members who represent local Labour branches, all of whom are pro-corbyn, Mr Watson wrote: “Please let your reps on the NEC know if you want them to support a confirmatory ballot on a Brexit deal in our Euro manifesto.”
His demands are backed by scores of MPS and MEPS, who over the weekend signed a letter arguing it was the only way to make Labour a “viable alternative” to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.
However, insiders close to Mr Corbyn last night hit back by insisting Mr Watson did not have the “numbers” to force a change in policy, adding that the party’s position on a second referendum was likely to be unchanged.
They were joined by a senior shadow cabinet minister, who told The Daily Telegraph they could see no reason why Mr Corbyn should “deviate one millimetre away” from Labour’s existing policy. “We’re not going to overhaul our conference policy,” they said.