Corbyn resists Brexit vote call but vows to ‘force election’

Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to “force a general election” in the event of a no-deal Brexit, but resisted growing pressure to support a referendum on the terms of the UK’s exit deal.

The Labour leader said: “If there is a bad deal for Britain, or worse, ‘no deal’ at all – maybe they are equally as bad, it depends what the government comes up with – we would vote against it and challenge it in Parliament and hope to force a general election on that basis.”

Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, a snap election would require a motion of no confidence in the government, or a vote of two-thirds of MPs.

A poll of members of the UK’s biggest trade union, Unite, found a majority want a vote on the terms of the UK’s Brexit deal, and a policy conference this week will see at least two motions put forward for debate that call for one.

Labour MP Alison McGovern, who supports the People’s Vote campaign for a new Brexit vote, said: “I hope Unite listens to its members who are calling for a People’s Vote this week.

“And I hope and believe the Labour Party will respond to the overwhelming majority of our members who see giving the public the right to a democratic vote on the final Brexit deal is the only way we’re going to sort out the mess the government has made of this process.”