Campaigns chief says policy is more complex than saying ‘stop Brexit’ or ‘leave means leave’

Labour’s campaigns chief has rejected the idea that disappointing local election results last week showed his party must embrace what he called “‘stop Brexit’ simplicity”.

As senior Labour figures prepare to resume Brexit talks with Conservative ministers on Tuesday, Andrew Gwynne warned against a further shift towards remain.

“On Brexit, what Labour is trying to achieve is much harder and more complex than those who say we need to simply swing behind remain admit,” he wrote in the Guardian.

Should Labour back another Brexit vote? That wouldn’t cut it on the doorstep | Andrew Gwynne Read more

“It would be the easiest option and perhaps superficially give us a short-term boost, but we are a national party seeking support from people all over the county, unlike the ‘leave means leave’ charade of the Tories and Nigel Farage, or the ‘stop Brexit’ simplicity of the smaller parties.”

He pointed out that all of the 21 councils in which Labour lost five or more seats were in heavily leave-voting areas. “The talk about another referendum was a difficult message to explain to many of our traditional voters.”

Theresa May’s negotiating team, led by David Lidington, is widely expected to make a compromise offer to Labour when talks resume on Tuesday afternoon, after government sources said Downing Street had set a deadline of the middle of this week to make progress.

Ministers are keen to introduce the withdrawal act implementation bill in the coming days so that it stands a chance of becoming law in time for Britain to leave the EU by the end of June.

That would mean MEPs elected in what is expected to be a bruising European parliamentary campaign never have to take up their seats.

The prime minister used an editorial in the Mail on Sunday to send a direct message to Jeremy Corbyn, saying: “Let’s listen to what the voters said in the local elections and put our differences aside for a moment. Let’s do a deal.”

But both party leaders appear tightly boxed in by their backbenchers. Many Labour MPs insist Corbyn must demand a confirmatory referendum be attached to any deal, with perhaps two-thirds of them prepared to vote against it without such a guarantee, while the prime minister has been warned she is at risk of splitting her party if she softens her stance on a customs union.

Labour unexpectedly lost seats in elections for councils in England last week, but fared much better than the Conservatives, which had their worst performance since John Major was in No 10.

Supporters of the People’s Vote campaign pointed to the strong showings by the Liberal Democrats and the Green party as evidence that Labour was being punished for its equivocal stance on Brexit.

A spokesperson for the campaign said: “Many in Labour are beginning to realise they cannot take People’s Vote supporters for granted, and the big swings to the Liberal Democrats and the Greens in northern towns and cities show why they are right to do that. It’s time for the Labour frontbench to offer leadership, not further excuses for inaction and ambiguity.”

Labour’s policy for the upcoming European elections was so contentious that it took a five-hour meeting of the party’s ruling national executive committee last week to sign it off, with Corbyn’s deputy, Tom Watson, calling for an outright commitment to a referendum.

A campaign video released on Sunday included the wording agreed at the meeting, which said if Labour could not secure “changes to the Tories’ disastrous deal” or a general election, the party would “back the option of a public vote”.

However, much of the focus of the message was on domestic policies, including investment in education and policing, which are not within the gift of MEPs. It called on voters to “send the Tories a powerful message”.

The Labour Party (@UKLabour) Labour will bring our country together 👇 pic.twitter.com/Uc2W4VGCS1

Meanwhile, Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, who is also mooted as a potential Tory leadership challenger, said May would be making a “catastrophic mistake” if she compromised by signing up to a customs union.

Brady has urged May to set out a clear timetable for her departure, even if no Brexit deal is passed, and is expected to reinforce that message in a meeting with her on Tuesday.

However, some Tory MPs are quietly urging May to get on and do a deal. “Hard Brexiters, who are mainly ERG members, and the DUP, need to wake up and smell the coffee, frankly. They are blocking Brexit,” said one backbencher representing a constituency where voters swung towards the Lib Dems last week. “This is not a vote for a hard Brexit.”

The MP added: “Graham has a duty to pass on the views of backbenchers, and there are all sorts of views out there.”

Another senior Tory said: “I think those who think it will break the Conservative party fail to see the party is already broken.”

If no agreement emerges from the Brexit talks, May has previously suggested the two sides could agree to be bound by a parliamentary process aimed at identifying a deal that could command a majority.