Emily Thornberry says Labour would campaign to Remain in a second referendum against Theresa May’s deal or no deal She argued allowing the public to vote on the issue again, which Labour has been severely split over for some time, has now become necessary

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry has said that in the case of a future Brexit referendum, if faced with the option of Theresa May‘s deal and no deal at all then Labour will campaign to remain in the EU.

Speaking to Channel 4 News on Tuesday evening, Ms Thornberry claimed Labour has tried to work towards delivering Brexit but the current options available are “a long way from what people voted for originally”, and said she believes both the Tories and Labour will vote against the Prime Minister’s latest deal.

She argued that allowing the public to vote on the issue again, which the party has been severely split over for some time, has now become necessary.

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Campaigning to Remain

Asked whether she would vote Leave or Remain if a referendum were to be held again, the shadow Foreign Secretary said she would campaign for Remain, as would the rest of the Labour party.

“If I had remain on one side of the ballot paper – and I don’t know what would be on the other side, so whether it would be Theresa May’s nonsense or no deal – I certainly will be campaigning to Remain, because I think that it’s in Britain’s interest to do so.

“And indeed, it is our policy that if it is no deal or Theresa May’s nonsense, we will all as a Labour party be campaigning to Remain,” she added.

Going back to the public

When challenged over how Labour supporters who voted Leave would then have their wishes represented by the party if it campaigned to Remain, Thornberry said: “We want to deliver what the public wants us to do. We are public servants and they voted. And we have been trying for the last two-and-a-half years.

“But we are such a long way away from what it was that people voted for. Anything which gets through Parliament at the moment I suspect will be incredibly controversial, and will be a long way from what people voted for originally, so we need to go back to them and say: ‘Is this what you wanted?’

“Because if it is, then fine.”

‘Political theatre’

Ms Thornberry has also dismissed the idea of Labour supporting Mrs May’s updated Brexit bill. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she called the process a “piece of political theatre” for the Prime Minister to have one last shot at getting her deal through.

“It’s almost like she is setting up her own political version of the last rites,” she told Today. “She cannot realistically expect to see this get through without fundamental changes and we are not going to see fundamental changes, from everything I hear.”

Bridging the divide

Labour has struggled with the issue of a second referendum, which is popular among the party membership and many MPs but vehemently opposed by some representatives in the party’s traditional northern heartlands, who fear such a move would cost them their seats as many voters in their constituencies backed Brexit.



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Leader Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of sending mixed messages on the issue as he attempts to bridge this divide.

But on Sunday he appeared to soften his stance towards a second referendum. Speaking on the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show, he said: “What we fought the general election on was to respect the result of the referendum, and to try to get a deal which guarantees trade and relations with Europe in the future.

“If we can get that through Parliament, then I think it would be reasonable to have a public vote to decide on that.”