LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) - Britain’s opposition Labour Party is set to vote against any deal Prime Minister Theresa May clinches with the European Union and is open to a second referendum with the option of staying in the bloc, Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said on Tuesday.

The Labour Party's Shadow Secretary of State for Departing the European Union Keir Starmer walks to a radio interview at his party's conference in Liverpool, Britain, September 25, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

With just over six months until Britain leaves the EU, May has yet to reach a deal on the terms of the divorce, and her plan for future trade ties has been rebuffed by both the EU and many in her own Conservative Party.

May says she will press on with her proposals, and branded Labour’s intention to vote against any agreement that falls short of its demands as “not in the national interest”.

Labour has listed six tests it would apply to any Brexit deal, including a strong future relationship with the EU that delivers the same benefits Britain has as a member of the bloc’s single market and customs union.

Starmer said May was on course to fail these tests.

He called for an election to allow a Labour government to steer Britain’s departure from the EU, the biggest shift in the country’s foreign and trade policy in decades.

“If Theresa May brings back a deal that does not meet our tests - and that looks increasingly likely - Labour will vote against her deal,” he told Labour members at the party’s conference in the northern city of Liverpool.

He repeated Labour’s argument that if parliament rejects May’s Chequers deal, named after the prime minister’s country residence where she hashed out a plan with her ministers, the party would press for a general election.

“But if we need to break the impasse our options must include campaigning for a public vote and nobody is ruling out ‘remain’ as an option,” he said to a prolonged standing ovation in a packed conference hall.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn backed his Brexit spokesman, but declined to say which way he would vote in a possible second referendum because “it depends what the question is”.

“We will challenge this government. If they don’t meet our six tests, we will vote against it, and then we will take it from there,” he said in a television interview.

TEARING UP PLEDGE

An internal EU document seen by Reuters on Tuesday reiterated the bloc’s rejection of Chequers, saying it would “give the UK an unfair competitive advantage”, but it welcomed her proposal of a free-trade are” as “the starting point”.

As for a possible new referendum, EU officials have voiced their doubts.

“That does not sound like a solution to anything. The first referendum is still keeping us busy. And will they want to have a third one in another two years?” asked a senior EU diplomat in Brussels. “It’s more about power struggles in Britain than about managing Brexit seriously.”

May, speaking to reporters on her way to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, said Labour would hurt the country by opposing any deal “regardless of how good it is for the UK,” accusing the party of being ready to “accept any deal Europe gives, regardless of how bad it is”.

“That’s not in the national interest. What we’re doing is in the national interest.”

But with May’s plan for maintaining close ties with the EU for trade in goods facing opposition from her own lawmakers, she is aware of the crucial role Labour could play in getting a deal through parliament.

May has a working majority of just 13 in the 650-seat parliament and a former junior minister said this month as many as 80 of her own lawmakers were prepared to vote against a Brexit deal based on the Chequers plan.

But like her Conservatives and much of the country, Labour is split over how to leave the bloc, with veteran eurosceptic Corbyn under pressure from many members to move to a more pro-EU position.

Brendan Chilton, general secretary of Brexit campaigning group Labour Leave, accused Starmer of launching a leadership bid.

“This is a betrayal of the very highest order. It is a betrayal not only of the millions of Labour voters, but of our 2017 manifesto,” he said, referring to the party’s campaign at last year’s election in which it won more votes than expected.

Labour’s conference passed the motion with a show of hands on Tuesday to keep a second Brexit referendum as an option if May fails to get her Brexit plan through parliament.

The motion reiterates Labour’s position on Brexit: it wants full participation in the EU’s single market and will reject a “no deal Brexit”.

Slideshow (12 Images)

The wording on a possible second referendum is left vague. The party’s finance spokesman, John McDonnell, said any such vote should be on how - not whether - to leave the EU.

But Starmer was clear: the motion could allow Britain to vote to stay in the EU.

“This isn’t about frustrating the process,” he said. “It’s about stopping a destructive Tory Brexit. It’s about fighting for our values and about fighting for our country.” </s> Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn looks on during the Labour Party's annual conference at the Arena and Convention Centre (ACC), in Liverpool, England, Tuesday Sept. 25, 2018. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn looks on during the Labour Party's annual conference at the Arena and Convention Centre (ACC), in Liverpool, England, Tuesday Sept. 25, 2018. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s main opposition Labour Party announced Tuesday it will reject Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed divorce deal with the European Union if it comes to a vote in Parliament and might even support a new Brexit referendum.

The party’s chief Brexit spokesman accused May’s government of offering the country a choice between “really bad and even worse.”

If Britain and the EU agree on a deal, it must be approved by the British and European parliaments before Britain leaves. The math on the U.K. vote looks ominous for May’s government, because it lacks an overall majority.

Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer told Labour’s annual conference that the party would vote against a Brexit deal along the lines that May is proposing because it does not meet “six tests” it has set, including protecting workers’ rights and retaining access to European markets.

“We do not accept that the choice is between whatever the prime minister manages to cobble together and no deal ... between really bad and even worse,” Starmer said.

Starmer said if the British Parliament rejected the deal, there should be a national election.

“If that is not possible, we must have other options,” he said. “Our options must include campaigning for a public vote — and nobody is ruling out ‘remain’ as an option.”

Starmer’s suggestion that a new referendum could reverse Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the EU — which wasn’t in the advanced printed text of his speech — drew a standing ovation from many delegates in the conference hall.

Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn has long opposed the idea of a new Brexit referendum, saying the party must respect voters’ decision to leave.

Most of the party’s 500,000 members voted in 2016 to remain in the EU, but many of its 257 lawmakers represent areas that supported Brexit. Brendan Chilton of the pro-Brexit group Labour Leave argued Tuesday that the party would “hemorrhage votes” if it tried to stop Britain from leaving the 28-nation bloc.

But with Britain due to leave the EU on March 29 and negotiations at an impasse, Corbyn is under intense pressure from party members to support a new public vote.

With a show of hands, conference delegates voted Tuesday to back a compromise motion leaving the option of a second Brexit referendum open, but not calling for it directly.

EU leaders last week rejected the British government’s blueprint for future trade ties at a fractious summit in the Austrian city of Salzburg.

May’s plan seeks to keep the U.K. in the EU’s vast single market for goods but not for services, in order to ensure free trade with the bloc and an open border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. But EU officials say that amounts to unacceptable “cherry-picking” of elements of membership in the bloc without accepting all the costs and responsibilities.

The Salzburg rebuff left May under siege from Brexit-supporting Conservatives, who want her to seek a looser relationship based on a bare-bones free trade agreement that would leave Britain free to strike new deals around the world.

But May is sticking by her proposal, saying the “hard Brexit” proposed by some Conservatives would be “a bad deal” because it would not resolve the Irish border problem.

“What we have put on the table is a good deal,” she said Tuesday. “It’s a deal which retains the union of the United Kingdom, our constitutional integrity, it’s a deal that provides for no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, protects jobs and enables us to have a good trading relationship with Europe and also the rest of the world.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that time is tight. An EU summit next month is seen as a make-or-break moment for a Brexit deal.

Speaking in Berlin, Merkel said there were “six to eight weeks of very hard work in front of us in which we must take the political decisions.”

“Of course, to a significant extent, this also depends on what Britain really wants — the discussion isn’t so clear here,” she said.

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Associated Press write rGeir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report. </s> Britain's Labour Party will support second Brexit referendum if Tories don't adopt EU deal proposals

Britain's opposition Labour Party says it would back calls for a second referendum on Brexit if Parliament rejects its alternative plan for leaving the European Union.

With just over a month until Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29, Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking changes to her exit deal in order to break an impasse in Parliament.

Labour's decision could damage her hopes of winning support for a revised deal in a vote she has promised by March 12, by attracting those who would have backed her agreement to avoid a no-deal exit but who prefer a second referendum.

Parliament is due to debate and vote on Wednesday on the next steps in Britain's tortuous departure from the EU, and MPs are set to put down proposals, or amendments, which could include demanding the exit deal is put to a public vote.

On Monday (local time) Labour said it would put forward an amendment calling on the Government to adopt its Brexit proposals, which include a permanent customs union with the EU and close alignment with the bloc's single market.

"If Parliament rejects our plan, then Labour will deliver on the promise we made at our annual conference and support a public vote," Labour's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said on Twitter.

Parliament is not expected to back Labour's Brexit plan.

Labour said it would support a bid by one of its MPs, Yvette Cooper, to give Parliament the legal power to force Mrs May to delay Brexit by seeking an extension to the Article 50 negotiating period.

"We are committed to also putting forward or supporting an amendment in favour of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory (Conservative) Brexit being forced on the country," Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was due to tell a meeting of his MPs on Monday, his office said.

"One way or another, we will do everything in our power to prevent no deal."

That amendment may not come at this week's vote in Parliament however.

A proposal by Labour MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson that Mrs May's deal be put to the public in another referendum will not be put forward for a vote in Parliament until the Prime Minister brings her agreement back for approval.

"There's no turning back for Jeremy now," Mr Kyle said.

Mr Corbyn has been under pressure for some time to support a second referendum. Last week, eight referendum-supporting MPs quit the Labour Party, in part owing to frustration over his failure to back another vote.

The prospect of holding a second vote poses a dilemma for Mr Corbyn: while many of the party's members and supporters fervently back a so-called People's Vote, others simply want Britain to leave the EU as soon as possible.

Reaction from MPs in the meeting on Monday was split.

It remains unclear whether there is a majority in Parliament in favour of holding another public vote and Labour MP Stephen Kinnock said while he was pleased parliament would get a chance to express its view, he also had concerns.

"I still have deep reservations about the idea of having another referendum. I think it's going to be deeply divisive," he said.

Britons voted by 52-48 per cent in favour of leaving the EU in a referendum in 2016.

The Remain Labour campaign group, which wants to stop Brexit, said the announcement was "a significant step forward".

"A second referendum was only ever possible with the votes of Labour Members of Parliament and we are now on the verge of making this happen," founder Andrew Lewin said in a statement.

"We are not complacent, but we are closer tonight to a People's Vote than we have ever been." </s> LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s only options are a second Brexit referendum or forging a close economic relationship with the European Union, the main opposition Labour Party said on Sunday.

Labour’s Brexit spokesman, Keir Starmer, told the BBC he was open to extending Article 50 if that meant Britain avoided leaving the EU without a deal.

Prime Minister Theresa May returns to parliament on Monday to make a statement on how she will proceed with Britain’s departure from the European Union after her deal was defeated by lawmakers last week. </s> Labour is preparing to vote down Theresa May’s EU withdrawal deal in Parliament, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed.

The move leaves the Prime Minister brutally exposed to a rebellion by restive Tory backbenchers, with fewer than a dozen able to fracture her fragile control of the Commons in the upcoming vote.

Addressing Labour’s conference in Liverpool, Sir Keir will warn that Tory “division, chaos and failure” over Brexit is putting the country’s future prosperity at risk.

“The party that once promised to fix the roof while the sun was shining now seems intent on burning the whole house down,” he will say.

His warning comes as Labour delegates at a gathering which has been dominated by wrangling over Brexit prepare to vote on a compromise motion to keep the option of a second EU referendum “on the table”.

Campaigners for a so-called People’s Vote – who staged a march in Liverpool on the conference’s opening day – have welcomed the motion, which states that if Labour cannot force an early general election it will “support all options remaining on the table, including campaigning for a public vote”.

But they voiced concern after shadow chancellor John McDonnell indicated that the leadership envisage any vote would be on the terms of a Brexit deal, with no option to remain in the EU.

With a Commons vote expected in the next few months, Sir Keir is set to say that Labour will oppose any deal which fails the party’s six tests, including delivering the “exact same benefits” of single market and customs union membership.

While stopping short of an absolute commitment to vote down Mrs May’s plans, he will tell delegates that it is highly unlikely any deal based on her Chequers blueprint could meet Labour’s tests.

And he will pledge not to back a “blind Brexit”, under which MPs would be asked to approve the £40 billion withdrawal agreement without being given a clear outline of future relations with Europe.

Sir Keir is expected to say: “Just when we need a strong government, what do we see from the Tories? Division, chaos and failure.

“No credible plan for Brexit. No solution to prevent a hard border in Ireland. And no majority in Parliament for the Chequers proposals.

“A Tory civil war that has gone on for years now threatens our future prosperity.”

And he will issue a message to Mrs May: “If your party wants to tear itself apart, that’s fine, but you’re not taking our country with you.”

Setting out Labour’s approach to the upcoming Commons vote, Sir Keir said: “If Theresa May brings back a deal that fails our tests – and that looks increasingly likely – Labour will vote against it. No ifs, no buts.

“And if the Prime Minister thinks we’ll wave through a vague deal asking us to jump blindfolded into the unknown she can think again.

“You can’t meet Labour’s tests by failing to provide answers. We will vote down a blind Brexit.

“Let me be clear: this isn’t about frustrating the process. It’s about stopping a destructive Tory Brexit. It’s about fighting for our values. And about fighting for our country.”

Sir Keir released an analysis of the Brexit blueprint agreed by the Cabinet at Mrs May’s country residence, which he said showed it failed to pass Labour’s six tests.

The tests demand: a “strong and collaborative” future relationship with the EU; the “exact same benefits” as single market and customs union membership; fair management of migration; defence of rights and protections; protection for national security; and delivering for all regions and nations of the UK.

Brexit minister Robin Walker said: “Labour seem determined to take us all back to square one by rejecting a deal out of hand then trying to delay Brexit and re-run the referendum.

“Labour promised to respect the referendum result, but are just playing political games and trying to frustrate it.

“This Conservative government is negotiating the right deal for the UK, one that promotes jobs and protects security and the precious Union between the four nations of the UK.” </s> Britain's main opposition party took a step at its annual conference toward backing a new referendum on Brexit — but stopped short of saying the vote should include an option not to leave the European Union at all.

Delegates at the conference in the northwestern English city of Liverpool will debate a motion Tuesday saying that if Parliament rejects the government's Brexit deal, "Labour must support all options remaining on the table, including campaigning for a public vote."

The motion, whose wording was hammered out at a five-hour meeting on Sunday, does not specify that a new referendum should include an option to remain in the EU, as many party members want.

Most of the party's half-million members voted in 2016 to remain in the EU. But many of its 257 lawmakers represent areas that supported leaving, so Brexit poses an electoral dilemma for the left-of-center party.

With the U.K. and the EU now at an impasse in divorce talks, and just six months to go until Britain officially leaves, many Labour members think the party should try to force a new referendum that could reverse Britain's decision to quit the 28-nation bloc.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and other party chiefs oppose that idea, saying Labour must honor voters' 2016 decision to leave. They say a better option would be a general election and a Labour government.

Labour finance spokesman John McDonnell said Monday that "we argued for 'remain' in the past but we lost that vote so we have to respect that."

But Labour lawmaker David Lammy, who backs a second vote, said a referendum offering the choice between "no deal or a bad deal" would be "farcical."

"It absolutely must include the right to stay in the EU," he said.

Labour is meeting after a rocky week for divorce negotiations between Britain and the EU.

The Conservative government's blueprint for future trade ties with the bloc was rejected last week by EU leaders at a summit in Salzburg, Austria. That left Prime Minister Theresa May's leadership under siege and Britain at growing risk of crashing out of the EU on March 29 with no deal in place.

May insists her plan is still on the table. It seeks to keep the U.K. in the EU single market for goods but not for services, in order to ensure free trade with the bloc and an open border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

But EU officials say that amounts to unacceptable "cherry-picking" of elements of membership in the bloc without accepting all the costs and responsibilities.

May is holding a meeting Monday of her divided Cabinet, where some Brexit-supporting ministers will urge her to seek a looser relationship based on a bare-bones free trade agreement that would leave Britain free to strike new deals around the world. </s> LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Theresa May returned from a seemingly unproductive meeting with European Union leaders Monday to a growing attempt by British lawmakers to stop her from taking Britain out of the EU on March 29 without a divorce deal.

With May and the EU at odds over not just how, but when Brexit should happen, her political opponents were getting increasingly desperate to take control of Britain's muddled departure from the bloc.

At an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt, the EU warned Britain it faces the prospect of delaying its planned March 29 departure or the consequences of a chaotic exit. European Council President Donald Tusk, who chairs meetings of EU nation leaders, said Monday it would be "rational" to postpone Brexit day.

May insisted she intends for Britain to leave as planned in a little more than a month. But her often divided opponents may be coalescing around a plan to prevent Britain crashing out of the EU with no agreement in place.

The main opposition Labour Party took a big step Monday toward backing a new referendum on the country's EU membership.

The party has previously said it would support a referendum as a last resort if it could not secure a new election or make changes to May's EU divorce deal. Britain's Parliament has so far rejected the deal struck between May's government and the bloc, and is due to hold a series of votes Wednesday on next steps in the Brexit process.

Labour has proposed its own withdrawal plan as an alternative to the government's deal with the EU. The party said Monday it would back a second public vote if the House of Commons rejects its plan this week, as is widely expected.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the party is committed to "putting forward or supporting an amendment in favor of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country."

The party did not specify what voters might be asked to consider in any future vote, though it has previously said the option of Britain remaining an EU member would be included.

Labour has previously said it would only support a second referendum as a last resort if it could not secure a new general election or make changes to May's divorce deal.

The change in approach follows the resignations of nine Labour lawmakers last week, partly over the party's failure to back another Brexit referendum. It is likely to cheer many party members, who have backed calls for a so-called "people's vote."

While there is little chance of a second referendum taking place without the support of Labour, the path to another Brexit vote is far from clear. It would require the support of numerous lawmakers from the governing Conservative Party, for example.

Since lawmakers rejected May's deal with the EU last month, the prime minister has sought to get changes from Brussels on a provision for the border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

The mechanism, known as the backstop, is a safeguard that would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU to remove the need for checks along the Irish border until a permanent new trading relationship is in place.

May wants to revise the deal to reassure opponents from her Conservative Party, as well as from a Northern Ireland party that props up her minority government, the backstop would only apply temporarily.

But EU leaders insist that the legally binding Brexit withdrawal agreement, which took a year and a half to negotiate, can't be reopened.

The impasse has raised concerns that Britain will leave the EU without a deal, a scenario that would likely mean new tariffs on British exports and serious disruption to trade between the two sides. The Bank of England has warned that the British economy could shrink by 8 percent in the months after a disorderly Brexit.

May has said a new vote on any revised Brexit deal won't be held this week and could come as late as March 12.

A number of British lawmakers are seeking to wrest control of the process from the government and are looking to get support for an amendment that would require May to seek an extension to the Brexit date if Parliament fails to back her deal.

"I don't see how businesses can plan. I don't see how public services can plan, and I think it's just deeply damaging," Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper, one of those behind the move, told the BBC.

On Monday, the EU's Tusk warned that the chances of a withdrawal agreement being concluded in time are receding, and that sticking by the planned Brexit date would be too risky.

"I believe that in the situation we are in, an extension would be a rational solution," Tusk told reporters at an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt after talks with May that he said included discussions over extending the Brexit process.

May insisted a deal in time was still possible.

"It is within our grasp to leave with a deal on 29th of March and I think that that is where all of our energies should be focused," May said.

She said that "any delay is a delay. It doesn't address the issue."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned her against "sleepwalking" into a chaotic Brexit next month.

"It's absolutely unacceptable. And I think your best friends have to warn you for that," Rutte told the BBC. "Wake up. This is real."

Raf Casert in Brussels and Pan Pylas in London contributed.

This story has been corrected to show nine Labour Party lawmakers, not eight, resigned last week. </s> Secretary General of the OECD Jose Angel Gurria told BBC News global economies are “absolutely” ready for a no deal Brexit. He added: “What’s the worst scenario? A no deal? WTO rules? The whole world is running by WTO rules these days. It’s unfortunate that the UK is leaving the EU but that was the will of the British people, so, we take our bumps and we roll with it.”

“The UK is a member of the OECD and we are going to make sure that this happens in the most seamless possible way and that the costs are lowered. Despite assurances from MP’s and Brexiteers that a no deal Brexit is not only achievable but beneficial for the UK not everyone is convinced. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of the United Kingdom Amber Rudd has warned Theresa May up to 40 Ministers could quit the Government unless they are allowed to vote for a motion which could delay Brexit, according to reports. A proposal has been tabled by Tory Nick Boles and Labour’s Yvette Cooper to extend Article 50 if a deal with Brussels can’t be agreed by the end of February.

This would push the date when the UK formally quits the EU back to the end of the year. A free vote would allow Ministers to vote for the motion without having to resign. Following Mrs May’s vote being voted down, the Prime Minister opted for cross-party talks in a hope of ending the parliament Brexit deadlock. Mrs May reached out to opposition leader Labour Jeremy Corbyn to discuss delivering Brexit but Mr Corbyn refused to meet unless she categorically took “no deal off the table” As March 29 quickly approaches supporters of a second referendum have reemphasised the solution it could provide in providing certainty for the future of Brexit.

The Prime Minister has argued that a second referendum would threaten democracy, halt the Brexit process and shake the people's faith in Parliamentarians. Mrs May revealed the outline of her new Brexit plan on Monday but was widely mocked as it was accused of being very similar to her original proposal. Mrs May responded to the criticism by stating: “We need to see where we can ensure the support of this house, and then take that forward to the European Union.” </s> Jeremy Corbyn tonight backed a second referendum on Brexit warning it was better than the 'damaging' Tory deal.

The Labour leader has bowed to months of pressure from activists and many of his MPs and promised to back a public vote in the Commons on Wednesday.

Mr Corbyn will order his MPs to first vote in favour of Labour's version of Brexit based on a permanent customs union with the EU.

But if that is lost - and it will be - Labour will then vote in favour of blocking a no deal Brexit and will either support an MPs' referendum plan or Mr Corbyn will table his own.

The Labour leader will hope the dramatic move will stop any more MPs quitting to join the new Independent Group of MPs.

Mr Corbyn's surprise shift makes a new referendum on Brexit much more likely - but far from certain as dozens of Labour MPs representing Leave areas oppose the idea.

He is due to speak to Labour MPs at 6pm and will say: 'The Prime Minister is recklessly running down the clock, in an attempt to force MPs to choose between her botched deal and a disastrous No Deal. We cannot and will not accept.

'Last week, after our visit to talk to EU officials and leaders in Brussels and Madrid, no one can be in any doubt Labour's alternative Brexit plan is serious and credible.'

He added: 'We will also be backing the Cooper-Letwin amendment to rule out a No Deal outcome.

'One way or another, we will do everything in our power to prevent No Deal and oppose a damaging Tory Brexit based on Theresa May's overwhelmingly rejected deal.

'That's why, in line with our conference policy, we are committed to also putting forward or supporting an amendment in favour of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country.'

Labour's Brexit plan involves a permanent customs union with the EU, which would rule out the UK signing its own trade deals.

It also calls for close alignment with EU single market rules, matching standards on workers and the environment, and a security deal.

Theresa May has refused to accept the Labour plan - insisting it compromises the referendum result - but it has been backed in Brussels as a possible escape route.

Labour MP David Lammy, who backs a new referendum, said: 'It is welcome news that the Labour Party is now, at long last, signalling it will accept the principle of giving the public the final say on Brexit.

'Even if MPs can agree some sort of deal, it would be wrong to force it on the British people when we now know so many of the promises made in 2016 have been broken and any deal will be worse than the one we've already got inside the EU.

'These are dangerous times for the Labour Party and our country. Jeremy Corbyn is today taking the first step to reunite our party by showing he is listening to our voters and members on this, the biggest issue of our time.

'But it is also crucial when food prices are already rising and car manufacturers are scrapping investment that we provide the clarity needed to plan for the future.'

Labour MP Clive Lewis, who backs the Best for Britain campaign, said: 'With this announcement we're now offering real and unambiguous opposition to Tory Brexit and giving the public the final say on the issue.

'To my mind we would never have been forgiven for facilitating Tory Brexit.'

MP Rachael Maskell added: 'Labour voters and members across the country are clear that they didn't vote for the mess Brexit has got us into.

'Labour must fight to rebuild Britain, and do so by working with European partners across the continent to reject the isolationist, divisive path the Tories have taken our communities on over recent years.'

Pressure has been mounting on Mr Corbyn to back a new referendum on Brexit after he tried and failed to collapse the Government last month.

The defection of eight of his MPs to the new Independent Group last week made it even more unlikely he could win a new confidence vote to force an election.

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson added to pressure yesterday by threatening to unilaterally back the People's Vote campaign yesterday.

Asked yesterday if he was about to join the clamour for a vote, Mr Watson told Marr: 'If Theresa May can't find it within herself to meet our red lines, closer economic union, then obviously our conference policy says that the next stage would be in favour of a people's vote.

'So if we get to that point, then yes, I will be on the march.'
The Labour Party plans to reject UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Chequers Agreement and is open to a new Brexit referendum.