Labour Fudges Brexit Referendum Pledge For European Parliament Elections

Labour will fight the European parliament elections without a firm pledge to hold a fresh referendum on Brexit, its ruling body has decided. In a bid to unite the party’s warring factions, the National Executive Committee (NEC) decided the manifesto for its MEP candidates should include a reference to the “option” of a fresh public vote on the UK’s membership of the EU. But the NEC rejected more radical proposals, pushed by deputy leader Tom Watson and the TSSA union, for a tougher anti-Brexit stance that would have committed the party to a referendum on any deal, not just Theresa May’s. HuffPost UK understands that the party’s Euro campaign leaflets will now be amended to reflect the new position, following a huge backlash from MPs and MEPs over a draft version that omitted any mention of a new public vote.