Theresa May’s leadership hangs by a thread as MPs get ready to return from Easter recess this week. Following reports Mrs May could face another unprecedented vote of no confidence, what Brexit options does the Labour party now stand for? The Labour party seems to be divided over its stance on Brexit. And Jeremy Corbyn is doing little to quell the chaos.
While more than 70 percent of party members would back a second referendum, according to a poll led by Prof Tim Bale of Queen Mary University, this sentiment isn’t echoed by Labour cabinet members.
Nine of Jeremy Corbyn’s top team are sceptical of – or opposed to – another referendum, according to the BBC.
Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery is reported to have offered his resignation twice because he broke the party whip and failed to back a referendum in the recent indicative votes. And twice Mr Corbyn refused to accept it.
Writing in the Observer this weekend, Jeremy Corbyn’s second-in-command Tom Watson suggested Labour must back a second referendum to prevent it from losing ground to Nigel Farage’s pro-Brexit party in the upcoming EU elections.
But whether this will happen remains to be seen.
Does Labour back a public Brexit vote?
Labour has been divided on a second referendum since it agreed last year to leave “all options” on the table, including a fresh public vote on Brexit.
Labour leader Mr Corbyn is currently in talks with Theresa May – whose own Brexit deal has been voted down three times in Parliament.
The talks have been launched in a bid to reach a compromise deal that can command a majority in the House of Commons.
But Mr Watson warned in the Observer: “Now that we know a bit more about what Brexit means, the very least that Leavers and Remainers deserve is a final say – a confirmatory referendum – on any deal.
“They deserve a Labour Party that offers clarity on this issue, as well as the radical vision for a new political economy achieved by working with our socialist allies inside the EU.
“And, above all, they deserve better than Nigel Farage’s promise of a far-right Brexit that would solve nothing.”
But, hitting back, Mr Farage said: “Tom Watson has broken his promises to the people.
“The second referendum that he backs is a total insult to 5 million Brexit Labour voters.”
And the Brexit Party leader said: “I now intend to wholeheartedly target Labour lies and dishonesty in the weeks ahead.”
A recent YouGov poll handed Mr Farage’s new Brexit Party a commanding lead in next month’s European Parliament elections.
The elections will go ahead on May 23 place if Mrs May doesn’t manage to convince MPs to get behind a Brexit deal by May 22.
The YouGov study puts the Brexit Party on 27 percent – compared to just 15 percent for the Conservatives and 22 percent for Labour.
