What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Emily Thornberry has appealed to Remain voters to back Labour at the general election as she insisted the party can still close the gap with the Tories.

The shadow foreign secretary said that the "only way" the UK could legitimately stay in the European Union was to deliver Labour's confirmatory vote.

She admitted she had been “frustrated” by Labour’s slow march to its final Brexit position of a second referendum. “I wish we’d come to the agreement earlier,” she said.

In an interview with The Mirror, Ms Thornberry said: "What I say to people who want to Remain is we can't, certainly not the way the Liberals want to do which is to revoke.

"You can't just go back on a decision in a referendum, but if after the public have seen what leaving really looks like versus Remain, it may well be that confirmatory referendum can be won by Remainers.

"But it does seem to me that the only way that one can Remain is if the public decide that is, in the end, what they want after these many years."

(Image: Wayne Starr/Daily Star)

Ms Thornberry, a committed Remainer, added that it was “not unreasonable” to make sure the public was absolutely certain about their decision to leave the EU - and how to do it.

In her first interview with a national newspaper since the election was called, she defended Mr Corbyn’s decision to remain neutral.

“It doesn’t really matter what Jeremy's position is, what matters is what the public thinks, I think people can make their own minds up," she said.

But she claimed to understand frustration of pro-Brexit voters - but said the Tories had shown themselves “incapable” of delivering Brexit.

“This will be the final word. But I think in the end after the paralysis caused by a Conservative government unable to agree amongst itself what it wants to do, this is the way forward," she said.

(Image: Wayne Starr/Daily Star)

Ms Thornberry appeared to give her blessing to tactical voting. "It's up to people what they do," she said.

Labour has resisted deals with other opposition parties to take seats off the Tories even though some high profile ones are up for grabs.

But as the political map is redrawn as a result of Brexit, thousands of voters across the country are expected to vote tactically.

She added: “It should all be framed in the truth which is that it will only be a Labour government or a Conservative government. Only Labour pushes through the sort of change we need.”

But Ms Thornberry admitted she would “not lose any sleep” if top Tory Iain Duncan Smith - who she blamed for brutal welfare reforms - lost his Chingford seat as a result of tactical voting.

And the shadow foreign secretary laughed at suggestions her opposite number Dominic Raab could lose his large majority to the Lib Dems.

(Image: Wayne Starr/Daily Star)

Ms Thornberry claimed that Labour, which has been trailing in the polls, was closing the gap as undecided voters made their minds up.

As she travelled along the South Coast from Hove to Southampton visiting Labour candidates, she said that it “feels like” Labour is still behind with 8 days to go until polling day, but that she was a “great optimist”.

But she accepted that Labour could still end up trying to form a minority government.

“It’s going to be up to the people and we will have to make the best of whatever decision they make,” she said.

The SNP and Lib Dems would then be faced with the choice of backing or “bringing down” a Labour administration in favour of the Tories.

Ms Thornberry slammed Labour adviser Bob Kerslake who had claimed the party might be prepared to negotiate its leader in a hung parliament. “He’s obviously vastly experienced in terms of the civil service but clearly doesn’t know how the Labour party works. We decide on who our leader is, nobody else,” she said.

And she warned against speculation over who might take over if Mr Corbyn decided to step down.

“Anybody who is thinking about anything other than winning the next election is not serving the Labour Party and our country best.”

However, Ms Thornberry batted way suggestions that any result other than forming a government could be classed as a Labour victory.

“All that matters is power. What matters is Labour getting into power. The Labour party without power is not much and we can’t change people’s lives without getting into Government.”

(Image: Wayne Starr/Daily Star)

The Labour politician spoke on the campaign trail amid suggestions that Labour HQ was keeping high profile Remain-backing MPs out of the media.

She insisted she was “not hiding” but that her media appearances were a decision for party chiefs.

And she claimed that Mr Corbyn was not the first opposition leader whose name came up on the doorstep, adding: “He has been the victim of the most appalling lies and people just get away with it.”

Opposition leader was “surely the worst job in the world”, he said, as the Tory press always tried to “cut them off at the knees”.

Ms Thornberry said that “things have moved on” since Mr Corbyn suggested that Nato should be scrapped.

“They can’t quote anyting that Jeremy has said on Nato since becoming the leader of the Labour party that has not been supportive.”

She claimed the Labour leader would continue to abide by collective decision making on defence and foreign affairs if he made it to No 10.

But she told activists that they should urge sceptical voters that you “weren’t voting for the manager, they were voting for the team”.

(Image: Wayne Starr/Daily Star)

After Mr Corbyn apologised again for anti-semitism in its own ranks on Monday, Ms Thornberry admitted it would be “very difficult” to fix the party’s relationship with the Jewish community before the election.

“Trust has broken down. I accept that. I understand it. I don’t think it’s something that can be fixed quickly,” she said.

“There are so many things that a Labour government could do that could make the life of people in Britain better - and that includes people from the Jewish community.”

But she confessed that she would have dealt with the problem “faster and I would have been much tougher” and she would one day like to see ex-Labour MP Luciana Berger return to the party.

In a wide-ranging interview, Ms Thornberry also warned about the threat to the NHS from a US trade deal, saying she would “stand up” to “bully” Donald Trump and tell him “loud and clear” when the UK disagreed.

“The approach we’ve had from the current government has not exactly worked has it, with Theresa May holding his hand or Boris Johnson doing a tribute act?”

But she added: “Just because you disagree with the President doesn’t mean you can’t work with the government.”