Richard Leonard has put himself at odds with Scottish public opinion and other senior Labour politicians by saying that he would prefer Brexit to a second EU referendum.

However, the Scottish Labour leader said that he would campaign to Remain if another ballot went ahead.

On Monday Jeremy Corbyn announced the party’s support for a second referendum if he could not get the Brexit deal he wanted. A majority of Scottish Labour MPs support a second vote, as does Kezia Dugdale, the former Scottish leader, and several senior MSPs.

Mr Leonard said that the option of Remain must be on the ballot paper but did not say what the alternative should be beyond “a credible Leave option”.

“The options could be [remain or] no-deal, the