Mayor of London Sadiq Khan | Neil Hall/EPA London mayor calls for second Brexit referendum Sadiq Khan says ‘people didn’t vote to leave the EU to make themselves poorer.’

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for a second referendum on Brexit because of the government’s "abject failure" to negotiate a deal with Brussels.

In an opinion piece published in the Observer on Sunday, Khan expressed his fears of "crashing out of the EU with no deal," and suggested the people should "take back control."

According to the Labour mayor, this means "a public vote on any deal or a vote on a no-deal, alongside the option of staying in the EU."

He said both scenarios are "incredibly risky and I don’t believe Theresa May has the mandate to gamble so flagrantly with the British economy and people’s livelihoods.”

He added: “People didn’t vote to leave the EU to make themselves poorer, to watch their businesses suffer, to have NHS wards understaffed, to see the police preparing for civil unrest or for our national security to be put at risk if our cooperation with the EU in the fight against terrorism is weakened.”

Khan repeated the call on the Andrew Marr Show, saying: "The British public should have a say on the outcome of the negotiations."

The mayor's call for a new referendum echoes recent YouGov polls showing that 46 percent of Brits think it was a mistake to vote to leave the EU (against 41 percent who support the decision) and that the biggest unions, Unite, GMB and Unison, would vote Remain if a second referendum was organised.

On Friday, it was announced that Khan had secured enough support to run as the Labour Party's candidate for London mayor in 2020.