Brexit: where do UK’s political parties stand on a second EU referendum?

Several prominent British politicians are campaigning for another vote on Britain’s membership of the EU even as the second phase of Brexit negotiations continues.

The Week looks at where the main political parties stand on the divisive issue:

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What are the Liberal Democrats proposing?

The Lib Dems’ Brexit policy centres on getting a second vote on the final deal. The party is proposing a 12-week campaign starting in September 2018 - when the final terms of the agreement with the EU have been agreed - to give British voters the choice of either accepting the deal or staying in the bloc.

Leader Vince Cable has said that the vote should be timed to coincide with EU states’ own vote on the final agreement, scheduled for December, and would be compatible with the tight timetable of EU withdrawal.

“This potential timeline to a public vote shows Brexit is not a done deal,” Cable said at the end of last year. “It can be stopped, but not without the approval of the British public. It’s time the Conservatives - and the Labour leadership - listened.”

What is Labour’s position?

Leader Jeremy Corbyn has ruled out another vote on Brexit, insisting Labour will respect the original result while continuing to pursue a new customs union with the EU.

Speaking on the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show in January, Corbyn said his party had demanded a meaningful vote in Parliament on the terms of deal, but emphasised: “We’re not asking for a second referendum.”

Shadow Ireland secretary Owen Smith was sacked from the front bench last month after he advocated a public vote on the final Brexit deal.

Smith claimed that his concerns about Brexit were shared by other Labour members. Corbyn ally and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said it was right that Smith was dismissed for advocating against official party policy.

But deputy leader Tom Watson has also sown doubts about Labour unity on Brexit, by refusing to dismiss suggestions that voters could be asked to vote again on Britain’s EU membership.

Former Labour leader Tony Blair has committed himself to reversing Brexit, and London’s Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, has also called for a fresh Brexit referendum should Parliament reject a UK-EU brokered agreement.

Where do the Tories stand?

The Government has repeatedly rejected calls for a second EU referendum on the final deal, with Theresa May arguing that another vote would be a betrayal of the British people.

But some senior Conservatives, including former prime minister John Major, have spoken out against the Government’s position.

“This must be a decisive vote, in which Parliament can accept or reject the final outcome; or send the negotiators back to seek improvements; or order a referendum,” Major said in February. “That is what parliamentary sovereignty means.”

What about the other parties?

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said last year that it was getting increasingly hard to resist calls for a second EU referendum, although her party has yet to come down firmly on either side.

Plaid Cymru, meanwhile, says that it accepts the people of Wales’ vote to leave and that it will not push for another vote.

Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas has called for a second referendum on any final deal. Only a “people’s poll” will stop the Government “marching us towards a national calamity” that is a hard Brexit, she argues.

UKIP, which has styled itself as the “guard dog of Brexit”, is opposed to another vote, unsurprisingly. “To hold such a referendum would be to call into question the decisive importance of the largest democratic exercise ever held by this country,” former leader Henry Bolton said in January.

So is it likely to happen?

With the Tories enjoying a slim majority in the House with the help of their DUP partners and Labour divided on the issue, the chance of a second referendum being voted through Parliament remains slim.

Yet die-hard Remainers are pinning their hopes on a significant shift in public opinion between now and next autumn that will make calls for a second referendum impossible to ignore.

According to Politico, some MPs believe a delay or collapse in talks could create a “rolling Greek-style crisis that would grind down the public’s tolerance for Brexit” and fuel calls for a second referendum.

“Should talks have progressed but failed to reach a deal, pressure will grow for an extension rather than an economically-damaging no deal”, adds the site.

The Sun reported in August that the EU is actively working toward this goal. “Suspicion grows daily” that the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier hopes to “lengthen the impasse in the hope that the Government will fall and a second referendum will follow”, said the paper.

Several prominent British politicians are campaigning for another vote on Britain’s membership of the EU even as the second phase of Brexit negotiations continues.

The Week looks at where the main political parties stand on the divisive issue:

[b] What are the Liberal Democrats proposing?

The Lib Dem’s Brexit policy centres on getting a second vote on the final deal. The party is proposing a 12-week campaign starting in September 2018 - when the final terms of the agreement with the EU have been agreed - to give British voters the choice of either accepting the deal or staying in the bloc.

Leader Vince Cable has said that the vote should be timed to coincide with EU states’ own vote on the final agreement, scheduled for December, and would be compatible with the tight timetable of EU withdrawal.

“This potential timeline to a public vote shows Brexit is not a done deal,” Cable said at the end of last year. “It can be stopped, but not without the approval of the British public. It’s time the Conservatives - and the Labour leadership - listened.”

What is Labour’s position?

Leader Jeremy Corbyn has ruled out another vote on Brexit, insisting Labour will respect the original result while continuing to pursue a new customs union with the EU.

Speaking on the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show in January, Corbyn said his party had demanded a meaningful vote in Parliament on the terms of deal, but emphasised: “We’re not asking for a second referendum.”

Shadow Ireland secretary Owen Smith was sacked from the front bench last month after he advocated a public vote on the final Brexit deal.

Smith claimed that his concerns about Brexit were shared by other Labour members. Corbyn ally and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said it was right that Smith was dismissed for advocating against official party policy.

But deputy leader Tom Watson has also sown doubts about Labour unity on Brexit, by refusing to dismiss suggestions that voters could be asked to vote again on Britain’s EU membership.

Former Labour leader Tony Blair has committed himself to reversing Brexit, and London’s Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, has also called for a fresh Brexit referendum should Parliament reject a UK-EU brokered agreement.

Where do the Tories stand?

The Government has repeatedly rejected calls for a second EU referendum on the final deal, with Theresa May arguing that another vote would be a betrayal of the British people.

But some senior Conservatives, including former prime minister John Major, have spoken out against the Government’s position.

“This must be a decisive vote, in which Parliament can accept or reject the final outcome; or send the negotiators back to seek improvements; or order a referendum,” Major said in February. “That is what parliamentary sovereignty means.”

What about the other parties?

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said last year that it was getting increasingly hard to resist calls for a second EU referendum, although her party has yet to come down firmly on either side.

Plaid Cymru, meanwhile, says that it accepts the people of Wales’ vote to leave and that it will not push for another vote.

Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas has called for a second referendum on any final deal. Only a “people’s poll” will stop the Government “marching us towards a national calamity” that is a hard Brexit, she argues.

UKIP, which has styled itself as the “guard dog of Brexit”, is opposed to another vote, unsurprisingly. “To hold such a referendum would be to call into question the decisive importance of the largest democratic exercise ever held by this country,” former leader Henry Bolton said in January.