Deputy leader says party must support fresh Brexit vote to beat Tories in an election

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Tom Watson has called on Labour to support a second Brexit referendum under all circumstances if the party is to beat the Conservatives in a general election.

As the party considers whether to call another no-confidence vote in Theresa May’s government, its deputy leader said a people’s vote would bring the country back together.

His latest call comes after May’s deal was struck down for a third time in the Commons on Friday, and as MPs prepare to vote on a series of Brexit options, including a second referendum, on Monday.

His words will be met with unease from some Labour MPs, particularly those in leave-dominated areas.

The Labour frontbencher Melanie Onn, the MP for Grimsby, resigned from her shadow position last week to join a rebellion against the party’s backing for a second referendum, while three shadow cabinet members abstained on the vote.

Watson acknowledged the party was split over Brexit but insisted Jeremy Corbyn was signed up to pursuing a second referendum under all circumstances.

“Whatever the deal looks like, if it is underpinned by a people’s vote, that is how we bring the country back together,” he said.

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In words that will increase pressure upon fellow Labour MPs who have argued against a second referendum, Watson said: “It seems inconceivable that if there was a general election that a people’s vote was not in that manifesto.”

Labour confirmed on Wednesday it would expect MPs to support a motion, tabled by Margaret Beckett, which said parliament should not ratify any Brexit deal “unless and until” it has been approved in a confirmatory public vote.

Corbyn wrote to Labour MPs on Wednesday afternoon stressing that his party’s first priority was “to deliver our credible Brexit plan” in an attempt to avert a wave of resignations from his frontbench.

Onn was among 27 MPs who rebelled and voted against the amendment, including the mayor of the Sheffield city region, Dan Jarvis, as well as other vocal referendum sceptics Caroline Flint, John Mann and Gareth Snell.

Eighteen more MPs abstained, including the three shadow cabinet ministers and others including Tracy Brabin, Stephen Kinnock and Lisa Nandy.

Speaking on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, Watson also claimed Labour was on an “election footing” and ruled out a government of “national unity”.

At the beginning of another crucial week in which parliament could force May to adopt a soft Brexit, and there could be another attempt to pass May’s deal, Watson said Labour would have to examine the chosen amendments before deciding which to support.

The Kyle/Wilson amendment – which seeks to secure a referendum on a Brexit deal with remain also on the ballot paper – failed to get a Commons majority by 27 MPs in the first round of indicative votes last week. It will be among the options put back to MPs for further ballot.

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, said Labour was considering calling another vote of no confidence in May’s government.

The prime minister survived a no-confidence vote in January, the day after her Brexit deal was rejected for the first time.

When asked if Labour would put forward another no-confidence motion, Thornberry told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “We shall see. I mean, obviously, it does look like the time may come when we will need to call another confidence motion.”

Thornberry also said it was likely Britain would still pursue the policy of leaving the EU if Labour was in government.

Following the third rejection by the Commons of May’s Brexit deal, Thornberry said the prime minster was “out of control”.

“Even with just days to go she is just saying, ‘It is my deal or no deal’. That is not meaningful, that is not democracy. That is Theresa May stamping her feet and saying, ‘I want this, no one else is allowed to do anything,’” she said.

“No wonder she is in trouble. She is out of control. She is not listening to anyone. No one knows what it is that she is going to do next. I think her judgment has been undermined,” she said.