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Your support makes all the difference.The leader of the socialist group in the European Parliament has welcomed Labour’s backing for a second Brexit referendum – as the party shifts towards a more pro-EU stance.
Udo Bullmann, a German MEP who leads the centre-left group, said the policy move by the UK opposition party was “the announcement we were waiting for”.
Labour said on Monday night that it would support an amendment for a public vote if it could not get its preferred soft Brexit plan through – as seems likely. The party says it is making the move as part of a bid to avoid a no-deal Brexit, which Theresa May has failed to rule out. The referendum would have Remain as an option.
“That's the announcement we were waiting for: Jeremy Corbyn’s plan or second referendum. UK Labour on the offensive,” Mr Bullmann said.
Labour's MEPs sit in the socialist group, officially known as the Socialists & Democrats. It was once the biggest in the parliament but has since been eclipsed in size by the pro-European centre-right.
The MEP Mr Bullmann, a member of the German SPD at a national level, had previously called for a second referendum.
“We think the British people deserve, once they have seen the measures and the consequences of this divorce, once they have seen the lies of the Brexiteers, the British people deserve to have a Final Say on their future. This is my firm belief and this is my understanding of democracy,” he said during a debate in the European Parliament in October.
He made the call following a huge march in favour of a final say through central London, which was supported by The Independent.
Despite Labour’s backing, the mathematics in the House Commons means that without more Tory MPs rebelling to support a final say, it would likely be defeated.
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