Labour should promise second Brexit referendum after European election ‘kicking’, say Corbyn allies

Bad night for Labour as votes lost to remain and Brexit parties

Labour should respond to the “kicking” at the European elections by promising a referendum and pledging to campaign for remain, two of Jeremy Corbyn’s top shadow cabinet allies have said.

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, said on Sunday night as results rolled in that the party was “not clear” about its position on Brexit and should have promised voters a final say confirmatory referendum.

Meanwhile Shami Chakrabarti, Mr Corbyn’s shadow attorney general, warned that it was “past midnight” and time for Labour to back a Final Say.

It comes as Labour faces losses across the country to both remain parties such as the Lib Dems and Greens – and to the Brexit Party.

In Islington, the home turf of both Ms Thornberry and Jeremy Corbyn, Labour was pushed into second place behind the Liberal Democrats, by 27.5 per cent (up 18.6 per cent) to 26.3 per cent (down 21.2 per cent).

The Lib Dems won three MEPs across London – a heartland for Labour at the 2017 election – up from zero in 2014.

But in other areas, such as Cardiff, Labour lost out to the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage’s new outfit, which advocates a no-deal Brexit.

Labour appears to be set to finish in either second or third place, according to early results – but significantly down on last time wherever it places.

“I think we’re going to get a kicking – and the candidates who worked so hard and all our activists who frankly have not done well, it’s not their fault,” Ms Thornberry told BBC News.

“We went into an election where the most important issue was what was our view on leaving the EU and we were not clear about it.

“We were not clear on the one single thing that people wanted to hear, and that wasn’t their fault.

Emily Thornberry is a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn (Getty)

“We sent people out to campaign on that and unfortunately we just weren’t clear enough.

“We should have said quite simply that any deal that comes out of this government should be put to a confirmatory referendum, and that remain should be on the ballot paper, and that Labour would campaign to remain

“I think that we will after these elections need to look very carefully at why it is that we got this result. Members of the NEC... will need to be listening carefully to the membership and learning from that.”

Though Labour has had a poor night, it appears to have done far better than the Conservatives – which early results suggest have been reduced to single figures. The election results come just 48 hours after Theresa May announced her resignation, firing the starting gun on a leadership election contest that is set to engulf the party.

Earlier in the day Ms Chakrabarti told the Andrew Marr Show: “I was a passionate remainer but I also am a democrat and wanted to listen to the 52 per cent.

“However, a confirmatory vote or a second referendum now we are in the future is a way of breaking the deadlock in our country. It is not a means of stealing Brexit from those who voted for it.

“It has been part of our policy since party conference last autumn. It is past midnight. So that means of breaking the deadlock is more and more important by the day.”