Labour to decide on second referendum as Jeremy Corbyn accused of Brexit ‘fudge’

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is under pressure to commit to a referendum on any Brexit deal when his party meet later.

He has been accused of causing a Brexit “fudge” by grassroots party members on the issue of a second referendum.

The party’s National Executive Committee meets on Tuesday to agree its European election manifesto, amid calls to deliver a pledge to a confirmatory referendum on any Brexit deal.

Mr Corbyn has been accused of causing a Brexit impasse by members within his own party.

Bermondsey and Old Southwark Labour MP Neil Coyle said: “I’ve lost 500 members since the peak at the end of 2016.

“That's not just because of Brexit but the vast majority have left because of the European fudge. Members are saying they want us to oppose Brexit full stop, and they want a confirmatory vote as a minimum.”

Mr Corbyn did not speak to waiting reporters as he arrived by a side entrance at the party’s HQ in London.

Deputy leader Tom Watson said: "We always have lively discussions at the National Executive Committee, but I don't think there will be a row.

"These are very serious matters."

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Tony Lloyd told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was "seriously damaging to the whole country" that the UK is "so divided" over Brexit.

"Labour has worked very hard over the past months to try to find policies that can bring people together. That is difficult. That is what the NEC will try to do today,” he said.

"We have got a policy, we established that very definitively. Labour has made it clear that there are circumstances when we would have a second referendum. That has been party policy definitively since last October.

"It is important the public does know that we will prevent crashing out and prevent Theresa May's bad deal. Part of the way we are trying to do that is that if Parliament - and I don't think it will - did vote for them, we most certainly would want to put those to the public."

The crunch Labour meetings comes as cross-party talks aiming to break the Brexit deadlock continue, with the de facto deputy prime minister David Lidington describing discussions on Monday as "positive" and "productive".

However, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said questions remained as to whether Labour was "serious about delivering Brexit".

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said he hoped to see results this week from the talks, and reiterated a call to "fix Brexit quickly".

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Ahead of the NEC meeting, Labour MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson wrote to Mr Corbyn and all NEC members urging them to ensure that a confirmatory ballot is in the manifesto.

Mr Wilson said a referendum was backed by the majority of Labour MPs, MEPs, members and supporters and had featured in the policy approved by conference last autumn.

Labour MPs had twice been whipped in the Commons to support a motion tabled by the pair to require any Brexit deal to be subject to a public vote, he said.

"Three years on, we know more about what Brexit means and people should be allowed to compare what the deal is with what they were promised and decide whether they want to go ahead," said Mr Wilson.

"If we don't do it, the coming years will be divisive because people will be turning round and saying 'Hang on, I didn't vote for this'."

Some 115 MPs and MEPs signed a letter to NEC members organised by the Love Socialism, Hate Brexit group urging them to explicitly back a referendum in the manifesto.

Mr Watson used his Twitter account to urge followers to lobby NEC members to back a public vote.

And 22 Labour candidates in the European elections have pledged to campaign for a referendum and then back efforts to remain in the EU.

On Monday, Mrs May's effective deputy David Lidington and chancellor Philip Hammond led the government side in talks in Whitehall with a Labour team including shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor John McDonnell.