THE most striking mood-swing at this year’s Labour conference was the growing hostility to Brexit. In place of previous ambivalence, badges screaming “Bollox to Brexit” were everywhere. Fringe meetings were thick with members denouncing a Tory Brexit designed to benefit corporate interests at the expense of workers. And when Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, declared that parliamentary deadlock might justify a people’s vote, adding that nobody could say that Remain would not be an option, he received one of the conference’s biggest standing ovations.

Sir Keir claims that the party is united on Brexit, but it is not. A long and much-contested motion, passed at the conference, leaves all options open, including another vote. For all Labour’s pretence at being constructive this week, Sir Keir’s six tests mean that the party is all but certain to oppose any deal Theresa May brings back from Brussels. The party leadership is more Eurosceptic than the membership. It is also more dubious about the idea of a second referendum. Some big trade unions, as well as quite a few Labour MPs, are unhappy being seen to challenge the democratic decision of June 2016. Although polls show rising support for a fresh vote on a Brexit deal (see chart), party leaders fret that calling for it to include a Remain option could drive Leave voters in Labour seats into the Tories’ arms.