Briefing note argues for ‘further injection of democracy’ so the public or parliament are able to vote on the terms of Brexit

Labour has not ruled out the possibility of another referendum on the European Union, whether over continued membership or the terms of Britain leaving the bloc, according to a briefing note circulated among the party’s MPs.

The 10-page document, prepared by the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, and Barry Gardiner, the shadow minister for Europe, also lays out how Labour hopes to have a say in Brexit negotiations.

“Britain has now been left in a total mess of the Tory government’s own making,” the document states.

On the idea of a second referendum, the paper, a copy of which was passed to the Guardian, says that many Labour activists have appealed for a rerun of the referendum, in part because of “the disinformation of the leave campaign and the dysfunction of the government”.

It argues that before exit takes place “there should be the opportunity for some further injection of democracy into this process, so that either the public or their parliamentary representatives are able to vote on the reality of a post-Brexit Britain”.

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Earlier this month the Labour leadership challenger, Owen Smith, said he would like to see a referendum on any Brexit deal. However, the party’s leadership has previously been less keen, with the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, appearing to rule it out.

Gardiner and Thornberry, the latter of whom has also taken the role of shadowing David Davis, the new Brexit minister, stress there are risks in proposing a new referendum or running a general election campaign based on overturning the EU decision or offering a vote on the terms of exit.

“Some colleagues are concerned that this would look like trying to have a second in-out referendum by the back door,” they write.

The document, titled Responding to the EU Referendum Result, shows continued uncertainty within Labour over how to balance controls on the free movement of EU nationals into Britain against trade with the bloc. On Thursday, France’s president, François Hollande, told the British prime minister, Theresa May, that staying in the EU’s single market could not happen if the UK imposed control over arrivals.

The briefing note agrees this balance will be “extremely difficult”, and that Labour had to accept voters’ concerns over immigration. The document says the party must have a strong voice on the subject but does not yet set out what this will be. It tells MPs: “It will take time, and much greater consultation within the party, to develop proposals in this area, but that will be our priority for the coming months.”

Other areas are much clearer. The document says Labour deplores May’s lack of guarantee for the status of EU nationals already in Britain, arguing this has “created a climate where a small minority of individuals in our society feel it is acceptable to talk in terms of EU migrants living in Britain being told to go home”.

The document also calls for the party to campaign hard over preserving rights originating from EU rules, such as those over employment.



It demands a delay in triggering article 50, which would formally set a two-year process for departure. This should not happen, the document argues, “until there is a clear plan in place about what the UK will be negotiating for, and how that is going to be achieved, and until there has been some form of consultation on that negotiating plan, and formal approval of it by parliament and/or the public”.

On a more openly party political note, a section of the document titled Key Lines to Take, urges Labour MPs to say the confusion is the fault of the Conservatives.

“It was David Cameron who set a wholly artificial timetable for this referendum, believing that internal opposition inside the Tory party would be quelled as a result of his election victory last year,” one reads. “He was wrong, and we ended up with media coverage of the referendum campaign entirely dominated by the bitter in-fighting within his cabinet.”