Labour under pressure to shift Brexit stance as Co-op party plans vote on new referendum

Labour is set to face further pressure to shift its position on a new referendum, as its sister party plans a series of key votes on its approach to Brexit.

The Co-operative Party, which stands on a joint slate with Labour, will vote in the autumn on whether to back a second referendum, single market membership and extending the Article 50 negotiating period.

All are currently against Jeremy Corbyn’s approach, but the Co-op’s support would increase pressure on the leader to change tack, with dozens of Co-op MPs among Labour’s ranks in parliament.

But it would also threaten new tensions in the Labour Party, with one shadow cabinet member warning on Tuesday that a new referendum could spark “civil disobedience” in the UK.

It comes as The Independent’s campaign for a Final Say referendum on any Brexit deal reached by Ms May gathers pace, with more than 660,000 people having signed its petition.

Brexit is set to feature as a key battleground at this year’s Labour conference in Liverpool, with various wings of the party attempting to push Labour’s official policy towards a softer Brexit or even an anti-Brexit approach.

Labour’s Gareth Thomas MP, who also chairs the Co-op group of MPs, said: “Given the huge significance of Brexit for the future of our country, for jobs, businesses and our global influence we believe [Co-op] members should have the opportunity to determine our position on whether there should be a vote on the final deal Theresa May offers up.

“The Co-operative movement has always supported a strong relationship with Europe and Co-op businesses have dynamic trading relationships with European businesses, so it will be a particularly lively debate.”

There are 38 Co-op MPs on the Labour benches, including senior members of Mr Corbyn’s front bench: shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth, shadow international development secretary Kate Osamor and shadow Welsh secretary Christina Rees.

Other shadow ministers such as Tracy Brabin, Anneliese Dodds, David Drew, Preet Kaur Gill, Rachael Maskell, Jim McMahon, Steve Reed and Jonathan Reynolds are also MPs attached to the Co-op party – which has some 12,000 members across the country.

One Labour source said: “Given Labour looks like it is on a journey towards a softer Brexit, having the Co-op party putting its weight behind some of these things will increase pressure for Labour to do so as well.

“It’s going to be a massive issue at conference and Jeremy and the NEC will likely have to come up with some sort of statement that accommodates feeling among the membership that a shift is needed.”

The Co-op party will vote on whether to back a second referendum at its conference in Bristol in mid-October.

Labour’s official line is that it does not currently support a new referendum on Brexit, but Mr Corbyn has left the door open to a possible change in approach in the future.

But as if to underline the tensions the issue could strain, Barry Gardiner, Labour’s shadow international trade secretary, warned this week that a second public vote could result in civil disobedience.

He also suggested the extreme right in Britain could benefit if people felt denied in achieving change through democratic means.

He said both Remain and Leave campaigners told voters at the 2016 referendum that their decision “will determine the future of our country for the next 40 or 50 years”.

Mr Gardiner went on: “We meant it. Yes it may well be, and I certainly believe that we will in the short and medium term, be worse off economically as a result of Brexit and certainly the way the government is going.

“[But] if you then say to people…‘well, because you voted in the wrong way, we’ll give you another chance to get it right’ – that undermines the whole principle of democracy in this country.

“You never give as much succour to the extreme right as when you cut off the mechanism of democratic change.”