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

Jeremy Corbyn has rebuffed calls for a second Brexit referendum after a poll suggested the vast majority of Labour members want one.

The survey of 1,034 Labour members found 72% would like to see the party "fully support" a so-called People's Vote.

Of the rest, 18% said Labour should not "fully support" a second referendum and 10% said they didn't know.

But Mr Corbyn has long resisted such calls.

Labour is keeping a referendum as an "option on the table" but only once other options have been exhausted.

Despite the finding about a second referendum, the poll also said 47% of members supported the party's stance on Brexit, compared to 29% who oppose it.

(Image: Guy Bell/REX/Shutterstock)

Asked today if he would change his stance, Mr Corbyn said: "What we will do is vote against having no deal, we'll vote against Theresa May's deal.

"And at that point she should go back to Brussels and say this is not acceptable to Britain and renegotiate a customs union, form a customs union with the European Union to secure trade."

At last year's Labour Party conference a motion was passed which said if another general election is not called, then Mr Corbyn should pursue another referendum on Brexit.

Speaking about the motion he told reporters the policy was "sequential" on a range of issues.

He added: "The issue of another referendum was, of course, one of the options, but that was very much after the votes have taken place in Parliament.

"We haven't yet had a vote and I think the Government really should be ashamed of itself.

(Image: PA)

"This vote has been delayed and delayed and delayed. It's finally going to take place the second week of January. That is not acceptable, this vote should have taken place more than a month ago.

"This Government is just trying to run down the clock and create a sense of fear between either no deal or May's deal. Well, both of those options are completely unacceptable."

Professor Tim Bale, from Queen Mary University of London, which was involved in the research, said: "Our survey of Labour's grassroots clearly shows that Corbyn's apparent willingness to see the UK leave the EU - a stance he has recently reiterated - is seriously at odds with what the overwhelming majority of Labour's members want, and it doesn't reflect the views of most Labour voters either."

The work, carried out by YouGov for the Economic and Social Research Council-funded Party Members Project, also found backing for a second vote among Labour supporters, with 57% of current Labour voters and 61% of those who backed the party at the 2017 election wanting Mr Corbyn to "fully support" a fresh referendum.

It also suggests that tens of thousands of Labour members could be prepared to quit the party over the leadership's approach to leaving the EU.

(Image: ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Almost a quarter (23%) of Labour members put Mr Corbyn's failure to back a second referendum down to a belief that he supports Brexit.

If there is another referendum - and a three-way question - some 88% of Labour members said they would back Remain, 3% said they would leave with Theresa May's deal, and 5% would support leaving with no deal.

Prof Bale said: "Our survey suggests Labour's membership is overwhelmingly in favour of the UK remaining in the EU and badly wants a referendum to achieve that end.

"It also suggests that Labour voters, while not as keen as the party's members on either count, are in the same camp.

"Labour's grassroots clearly hate Brexit and, although many of them still love Corbyn, he might not be able to rely for much longer on their support for him trumping their opposition to leaving the EU.

"As a result, our research is bound to increase the pressure on Labour's leader to get off the fence."

Labour MP Phil Wilson said: "An overwhelming majority of Labour's voters, as well as its members, want the public to have the final say on Brexit and to stay in the European Union.

"But the leadership has too often hidden behind myths that Labour is almost evenly divided on this issue when the clear evidence from this and other polls shows that it is the leadership which is increasingly out of step with its supporters."

YouGov surveyed 1,034 Labour Party members between December 17 and 21. The pollster also surveyed a representative sample of 1,675 British adults on December 18-19.