Labour calls for second EU vote grow as talks resume

Cross-party Brexit talks will resume today, with a senior Labour figure demanding that any deal to break the deadlock include a second EU referendum.

It comes as Tory MPs increase pressure on Theresa May to set out a clear “road map” for her resignation.

Reports over the weekend suggested the Prime Minister was poised to propose a temporary customs arrangement with the EU. But senior figures in Jeremy Corbyn’s top team including shadow Chancellor John McDonnell poured cold water on talk of a breakthrough, and said Labour MPs were unlikely to back any compromise that doesn’t give the Commons the opportunity to order a so-called People’s Vote.

Prime Minister Theresa May. Picture: Michal Wachucik/Getty Images

Yesterday, the junior shadow Brexit minister Matthew Pennycook said it was “self-evident” that Labour MPs wouldn’t back a deal without a referendum offer attached.

Mr Pennycook posted on Twitter: “As I said from the despatch box on 9 April, given where we now are there is a clear requirement to seek ‘public approval for any agreement that might emerge at this late hour by means of a confirmatory referendum’.”

A cross-party deal must be done by tomorrow to avoid European elections that are set to be catastrophic for the Tories, and impatience with Mrs May’s failure to name a departure date is growing in her own party.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the powerful backbench 1922 Committee, said the Prime Minister should announce a “road map” for her departure after the European elections on 23 May.

He told the BBC: “We are now having to face the prospect of European elections, which none of us wanted to face. They are going to happen.

“And, I would have thought that fairly soon after that would be time for her to think about setting a schedule to find her successor.

“That is regardless of whether there is a deal on offer or not. We should move on as Conservatives.”

Mrs May has said she will step down if her withdrawal agreement is ratified, but – with the deadline for Brexit extended to the end of October – has not made clear how long she intends to stay if no deal is reached. Mr Clifton-Brown also hit out at reports of a customs union Brexit compromise, saying: “It is unlikely that I will vote for a deal containing a customs union.”

The SNP’s Europe spokesman, Stephen Gethins MP, said it would be “unforgivable if any back room deal bypassed the public through a second EU referendum”.

“We know that there is no such thing as a good Brexit and we know that dragging Scotland out of the single market and ending free movement will hit our economy, jobs and people’s living standards,” Mr Gethins said.

“That is a price that Scotland must not be made to pay.”