UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn supports second Brexit referendum, bowing to party pressure
- Jeremy Corbyn says he is committed to ‘a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit’
- But a second referendum will likely only happen if a significant number of ruling Conservative MPs also back one
UK opposition Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn has bowed to pressure from his members of Parliament and agreed to support a new Brexit referendum.
Corbyn is a lifelong opponent of Britain’s EU membership but has until now resisted attempts to get him to back a fresh vote on leaving the EU — even though it is the policy the party agreed to last year. But nine lawmakers quit Labour last week in protest at his leadership, and there were reports that others might go unless he changed course.
It seems he’s finally caved —in a roundabout way. Corbyn has been gradually shifting his position toward a re-do of Brexit over the past year. First by embracing staying in a customs union, and now this.
“One way or another, we will do everything in our power to prevent no-deal and oppose a damaging Tory Brexit based on Theresa May’s overwhelmingly rejected deal,” Corbyn was due to tell a meeting of Labour MPs on Monday evening, according to his office.