Labour’s Deputy Leader Tom Watson throws down the Brexit gauntlet to Jeremy Corbyn on Monday as he calls for the party to openly back Remain.
In a move set to widen the rift between the party leader and his number two, Mr Watson will champion the case for the UK to stay in the EU – and demand Labour backs the bid.
His intervention is likely to inflame Labour’s mounting tensions over Brexit , as Mr Corbyn prepares for a showdown with his Shadow Cabinet over Brexit on Monday.
The party chief faces growing warnings of a grassroots rebellion unless he gives full backing to another EU vote in which Labour would campaign to remain.
Speaking to the Centre for European Reform think tank, Mr Watson will say: “Pro-European is who we are and who we have always been.
“Our members are Remain, our values are Remain, our hearts are Remain.
“The only way to break the political deadlock is to bring the public back into this decision – and we must argue strongly to Remain.
“Our future doesn’t need to be Brexit – we can change our future.
“We can put Britain back at the heart of Europe again, we can be proud of leading the fight for a fairer and stronger future, together.
“But we can only achieve this future if Labour fights for it and champions it. It’s time we do that.”
The highly-charged intervention comes hours ahead of what is set to be a passionate meeting of Labour’s top frontbenchers.
Mr Corbyn will face renewed demands to explicitly back a second referendum.
But key allies including party chairman Ian Lavery and Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett are fiercely opposed to another vote and believe Labour should honour the 2016 result, as pledged in its election manifesto just 12 months later.
But party members, who are overwhelmingly pro-EU, hope to force the leadership into backing a fresh vote.
Critics of the bid fear such a strategy would see Labour surrender its traditional Brexit-backing heartlands in parts of the North, Midlands and South Wales Valleys to Nigel Farage’s insurgent Brexit Party.
They highlight the 31.6% vote for the poll-topping Brexit Party at last month’s European Parliament elections.
But others warn Labour will trigger an exodus of young, pro-EU supporters – many of whom who joined to back Mr Corbyn – unless it clearly supports Remain and calls for a second referendum.
They point to the Lib Dems’ 20.3% vote share at the European poll.
Some Shadow Ministers, including those usually loyal to the party leadership, are ready to push hard for another EU vote.
They believe the looming prospect of a Boris Johnson-led government threatening a no-deal Brexit on Halloween “changes everything”.
