John McDonnell has told the BBC that a vote of no confidence is “almost inevitable” and if that fails, Labour would call on the government to “join us in a public vote”.

Speaking to Laura Kuennssberg, the Shadow Chancellor said: “At some stage, it’s almost inevitable that there will be a vote of no confidence. If the Prime Minister doesn’t listen to parliament and tries to plough ahead.”

McDonnell went on to describe a no-confidence vote as a way of “lancing the wound and trying to move on”.

Asked about Labour’s support for another referendum, he replied: “We’ve had that discussion. We have a composite resolution that went through our conference. That’s our policy, and that’s on the table, of course it is.”

Pressed further, McDonnell said that if Labour is unable to force a general election, “we’ll be calling on the government, then, to join us in a public vote”.

“It’s difficult to judge at each stage, but that’s the sequence I think that we’ll inevitably go through over this period.”

He concluded: “Our policy is if we can’t get a general election, then the other option that we’ve kept on the table is a people’s vote.”