Back second Brexit referendum to beat the Tories, Tom Watson tells Labour MPs

2 min read31 March 2019

Tom Watson has urged his party to get behind a confirmatory Brexit referendum in order to beat the Conservatives.

The Labour party’s deputy leader also called on the opposition to embrace fresh European elections in May - and said he was "confident" Labour could outperform the Tories if it pledged a second Brexit vote.

The call comes after Theresa May’s deal was struck down for a third time in the Commons on Friday, and as MPs prepare to vote on a series of Brexit options, including a second referendum, on Monday.

Labour frontbencher Melanie Onn quit her job last week to join a major rebellion against the party's backing for a second EU referendum, while three Shadow Cabinet members abstained on the vote.

But, Writing in The Guardian, Mr Watson called on his colleagues to get behind the party's new push for a public vote.

"I respect the different judgments reached by some of our MPs - none of these decisions is easy - but more than 80% of Labour MPs backed Margaret Beckett’s motion saying that any deal to leave the EU should not be pushed through by parliament unless it has also been approved by the people," he said.

"This is a compromise position that provides a clear path to break the deadlock. Whether you voted Leave, like the majority of people in my area did, or whether you voted Remain, the current parliamentary paralysis works for no one."

The Shadow Culture Secretary also argued that Parliament imposing a deal or cancelling Brexit without going back to voters would seem "undemocratic in the extreme" - and he said a second ballot could heal, rather than divide, the country.

And he added: "I think Labour should embrace European elections just as we should welcome a general election that might get rid of this broken government.

"If we go into either contest with a positive policy on Brexit and say any final deal must be put back to the people, I am confident Labour can win.

"We already have a fund raised by local parties to pay for the campaign and I’ve asked our national executive committee to develop a plan to get grassroots members involved in selecting candidates.”

The Kyle/Wilson amendment - which seeks to secure a referendum on a Brexit deal with Remain also on the ballot paper - failed to get a Commons majority by 27 MPs in the first round of indicative votes last week.

It will however be among the options put back to MPs for further ballot casting on Monday.