Brexit: Labour ready to vote for Final Say referendum on Boris Johnson deal

Backers of referendum say they have array of parliamentary weapons ‘oiled and polished’ for use at the right time

Labour is ready to vote for a Final Say referendum on Saturday if Boris Johnson brings an EU withdrawal deal back from Brussels, the party's shadow Brexit minister has said.

The party has been calling for a confirmatory referendum on any Brexit deal, and it is understood its MPs will be whipped to back an amendment requiring a Johnson agreement to be put to a public vote if its wording is deemed acceptable.

A Labour whip is regarded as essential for any second referendum vote to succeed, but Jeremy Corbyn's repeatedly expressed preference for an election ahead of a public vote has raised doubts over how he will deploy his MPs in a Commons vote.

But Labour MP Jenny Chapman told the BBC's Andrew Neil: "The expectation would be that should a deal be tabled on Saturday - and we don’t know that that will happen - I’m as sure as you can be that there will be an amendment tabled that would want to see a referendum attached to the deal. I would expect us to support that."

Asked whether Mr Corbyn backed this position, she replied: "He’s told me this.”

Ms Chapman acknowledged that a vote for a referendum on Saturday might means that a public vote came before a general election, telling Neil: “I’d rather have a general election but we are not in control of this unfortunately, so should that opportunity come on Saturday to have that referendum on the deal … in that circumstance, there’s an opportunity there, and the pragmatic, sensible thing for the Labour Party to do, given that we’ve been asking for this, would be to take that opportunity.“

It remains unclear whether a referendum amendment will be tabled on 19 October, which is expected to be the first Saturday sitting of both Houses of Parliament since the Falklands War, taking place as hundreds of thousands of supporters of a People's Vote flood the streets of the capital in the Together for the Final Say march.

Although the government tabled a motion for the Saturday sitting on Wednesday, it could still be called off if Mr Johnson returns empty-handed from Brussels.

And if he comes back with a deal, he will need the support of the 10 DUP MPs, the bulk of members of the European Research Group of Tory Eurosceptics and the majority of the 21 Conservative MPs stripped of the whip for rebelling over no deal, as well as a handful of Labour Leavers to force it through the Commons.

If he looks set for defeat, it is all but certain that opposition parties will allow the deal to be voted down in parliament as Theresa May’s was, rather than offer Mr Johnson the potential lifeline of putting it to a confirmatory referendum.

Ms Chapman's comments suggest that Labour has resolved its long-running internal debate between going for a referendum, as advocated by senior figures, such as deputy leader Tom Watson and shadow chancellor John McDonnell, or insisting on an election first, as the circle around Mr Corbyn would prefer.

Speaking to the Co-operative Party on Saturday, Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said: “If Boris Johnson does manage to negotiate a deal then we will insist that it is put back to the people in a confirmatory vote.”

No decision on whipping arrangements will be made until the nature of any deal and the wording of any amendment becomes clear.

But it is understood that Labour MPs will be told to vote for a referendum on Mr Johnson’s deal if the wording is acceptable to the party.

A referendum motion came within 12 votes of passing in the Commons in April with the support of Mr Corbyn’s party.

And supporters of a public vote believe they can count on additional backing from some of the 21 Tory no-deal rebels.

But success is still far from guaranteed, and may depend on the position of a group of around 20 Labour MPs from Leave-voting seats in the Midlands and north of England who are campaigning for a Brexit deal.

They are more likely to back a confirmatory referendum on the final version of Ms May’s deal, including workplace and environmental safeguards thrashed out in cross-party talks with Labour than any package produced by Mr Johnson, which is likely to strip out provisions to maintain a “level playing field” with the EU on standards.

A pro-Brexit activist (left) talks with an anti-Brexit demonstrator as they protest near the Houses of Parliament (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

With progress in Brussels talks far from clear, opponents of a Conservative Brexit were game-planning a range of options, including emergency motions to seize control of the parliamentary agenda and amendments to any motion tabled by the government.

One supporter of a referendum told The Independent: “There are a number of different weapons we could pick up and they have all been oiled and polished, but we don’t know yet which we are going to use. To say which weapon we are going to use before we know which battle we are fighting would be foolish.”

A Liberal Democrat bid to amend the Queen’s Speech to include a confirmatory referendum is thought unlikely to gain broad cross-party support next Tuesday.

The government tabled a motion in the Commons on Wednesday for both Houses of Parliament to sit from 9.30am until noon on Saturday.

But this motion must be moved to a vote of MPs on Thursday before the sitting is confirmed. And the wording of any motion for debate is not expected to be known until late in the day.