When Jeremy Corbyn says that the only real People’s Vote is a general election, he is absolutely right (Photo: Reuters/Phil Noble)

Over two and a half years have now passed since the referendum on our membership of the European Union.

We are 36 months, thousands of column inches and endless hours of gruelling debate on from that moment and yet the truth is that the debate on the result of the referendum has never started.

The problem with the current Brexit conversation is that few have attempted to understand why people voted to leave the EU in the first place.

There is a reason why areas with a high degree of social deprivation were most likely to vote leave: they did not feel as though the establishment represented them or shared their concerns. For some – admittedly, not all – opting to vote leave served as an opportunity to defy the establishment.


A second referendum, or a so-called ‘People’s Vote’, must be avoided at all costs.

It is undeniable that immigration played a role in this: it is the main reason that in spite of my ideological disagreements with the EU as an institution, I argued passionately, and voted for, remain.



Like many, I found it impossible to go anywhere near a Leave campaign that was defined by xenophobia and fearmongering. We have to recognise – and challenge – the success of the right in exploiting immigration as an excuse for the woes of our nation, when such blame actually lies at the door of capital.

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That is why a second referendum, or a so-called ‘People’s Vote’, must be avoided at all costs. I am convinced that such a vote would only lead to a greater majority to leave the EU – an opinion apparently shared by two people that probably agree on little else: Diane Abbott and Michael Gove.

It would be the easiest campaign to win in history.

It would take just a little more than the Leave campaign to ask voters to give the establishment another shock. The first vote mobilised people who had not voted for years and even never before. And though I believe the Remain campaign would increase its vote in the major cities, the Leave camp could more than match that in other areas.

The move to a second vote would simply entrench the idea that the establishment will always try to get its way, even if that means overriding the democratic will of the people.

I can’t be certain that this would be the case, but it is what I would expect having followed the debate for the last two and a half years.

What I can be certain of, however, is that the move to a ‘People’s Vote’ would finish the Labour Party for a generation.

Just look at the seats that Labour currently holds, never mind the ones it needs to win to form a government: six in 10 Labour-held constituencies voted to leave. Of those that Labour must win, a majority voted to leave.

These voters, and the non-voters that Labour must convince to participate, will not forgive the Labour Party if it abandons them.

The Labour Party must also not abandon those who voted Remain – despite the fact that Remain lost the referendum. But its policy is already skewed closer to the wishes of Remain voters than it is the ardent Brexiteer.



When Jeremy Corbyn says that the only real People’s Vote is a general election, he is absolutely right. Another referendum will only open wounds, create more division and offer no solution to the current mess.

A general election offers the chance to unite those who voted either Leave or Remain without forcing each side into their own camps.

At a time when the far-right is on the march across our country, we cannot open a space for them and invite them into the mainstream. We must challenge their exploitation of working-class communities by bringing people together, not further driving them apart.

Though Corbyn lost yesterday’s motion of no confidence in the government, he must continue to drive a wedge between Theresa May, her backbenchers and her supporters in the Democratic Unionist Party.

That will take time, patience and skill. But it is more than possible to achieve.

Jeremy Corbyn should seek to renegotiate the deal with the European Union as prime minister, continuing to respect the result of the referendum whilst avoiding a disaster for working people.

It is the domestic agenda of a radical Labour government that will save Britain from economic ruin, not the fantasy of a People’s Vote that can’t pass Parliament and would likely see Remain lose another referendum.

The Conservatives, the party of big business, may talk the talk on a no-deal Brexit, but they will never allow it to happen.

Given that is the case, Corbyn must push for a general election at every given opportunity – whether it takes one more motion of no confidence or 10.


That is the only way out of this Brexit deadlock. It is the only way to bring our divided country together again.

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