Brexit: May refuses to confirm she will hold second referendum – even if MPs vote for one

Theresa May has refused to commit to holding a fresh Brexit referendum even if MPs vote for it, as she made a last-gasp bid to rescue her deal.

The prime minister announced she would allow a Commons vote on the controversy – if MPs give initial approval to the withdrawal agreement bill – but immediately cast doubt on whether a public vote would follow.

“What the House of Commons will be saying is what they want to see in the final bill,” Ms May said, declining to say she would legislate for a Final Say referendum.

Labour MPs immediately protested that the “compromise” proposal fell far short of their demand for a cast-iron commitment on the face of the bill.

“It’s like the PM really does think we are all daft,” tweeted Stella Creasy, a Labour supporter of another referendum.

Another, Peter Kyle, said he wanted a “clean, simple confirmatory public ballot”, adding: “The prime minister promised a strange, complex, Commons process. This is not leadership and not good enough.”

It is believed that Ms May proposed a free vote on a second referendum at a stormy cabinet meeting, but was challenged – implying she would whip against it, if the Commons vote takes place.

That looks unlikely as pro-Brexit Tories also lined up to attack what the prime minister called her “new Brexit deal”, as she delivered a speech in central London.

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