Any new Brexit referendum should not be re-run of divisive 2016 vote – McDonnell

Updated

Any new Brexit referendum should not include the option of remaining in the European Union, John McDonnell indicated, as Labour braced for a "rumbustious" row on the issue.

Pro-EU activists' hopes of the party fully throwing its weight behind a second referendum suffered a major setback at Labour's conference in Liverpool.

More than 100 constituency parties submitted motions demanding a second referendum and thousands of people joined a march calling for a so-called People's Vote in order to put pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to change course.

But the exact wording of the motion to be put to a vote at the party's conference on Tuesday states only that "if we cannot get a general election, Labour must support all options remaining on the table, including campaigning for a public vote".

And Mr McDonnell, a key ally of Labour leader Mr Corbyn, suggested that any referendum should be on whether to accept a Brexit deal or conduct fresh negotiations with Brussels, rather than seek to reverse the 2016 decision to leave the EU.

The shadow chancellor told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We argued for Remain in the past but we lost that vote so we have to respect that.

"All the polling that we have seen is that the country is still pretty split down the middle.

"My big worry is that if we go for a referendum which is seen as just a simple re-run we could divide the country again, we could get almost the same result or if it's slightly different that people demand another referendum."

He added that the referendum "opened up all sorts of xenophobic feelings and a rise of the right" adding "I don't want to revive Ukip in any way or even the far-right".

The wording of the referendum question would be a matter for Parliament but Mr McDonnell told BBC Radio 4's Today: "If we are going to respect the referendum it will be about the deal."

On Good Morning Britain he suggested that a general election would be "the real People's Vote" because it would give the public the chance to change the team carrying out the negotiations, replacing Theresa May with a Labour government.

But he acknowledged the debate at the conference "may be rumbustious".

Labour MP David Lammy, a prominent campaigner for a second referendum, said it would be "farcical" to have a vote without the option of remaining in the EU.

He said: "A People's Vote is the only realistic option to save this country from the car crash of Brexit.

"No Tory or DUP MP is likely to vote for a general election. Turkeys do not tend to vote for Christmas."

He added: "We've now got to turn up the noise until we secure a public vote which gives us the option to remain in the UK."

He received support from fellow Labour MP Chuka Umunna who called for an "unequivocal" commitment to a second referendum with remaining in the EU as an option.

The phrasing of the motion was decided after a marathon late-night meeting at the conference in Liverpool.

A People's Vote campaign spokesman said the conference motion was "clear movement" towards adopting a referendum.

"The leadership knows where the members are and they know where their voters are," the spokesman said.

"And the voices demanding a democratic final say on the outcome of Brexit negotiations are only going to get louder in the weeks to come as the gap between what was promised two years ago and reality gets wider."

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