Labour would fight a snap general election vowing to press ahead with Brexit, but it would secure better terms, John McDonnell has said, defying demands from party members to include a second-referendum pledge in any manifesto.
The standoff between Theresa May and the EU27 leaders in Salzburg this week, and the apparent lack of a parliamentary majority for her Chequers plan for Brexit, have raised the possibility of an early general election.
Labour has repeatedly made clear that it would prefer this option over a “people’s vote” on any deal.
If there were a referendum today on whether or not the UK should remain a member of the EU, how would you vote?
Remain
Leave
By gender
%
20
40
60
80
100
Male 88%/9%
Female 93%/5%
By age
18-39 93%/3%
40-59 89%/9%
60+ 88%/10%
By region
London 94%/2%
Rest of South 87%/10%
Midlands/Wales 93%/5%
North 90%/9%
Scotland 82%/14%
Remain
Leave
By gender
%
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Male 88%/9%
Female 93%/5%
By age
18-39 93%/3%
40-59 89%/9%
60+ 88%/10%
By region
London 94%/2%
Rest of South 87%/10%
Midlands/Wales 93%/5%
North 90%/9%
Scotland 82%/14%
Guardian graphic. YouGov interviewed 1,054 Labour Party members, 13 – 18 September 2018
The shadow chancellor also suggested on Saturday that the rail industry could be renationalised within five years under a Labour government.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it would be possible to bring all franchises back under public control during a single term in office, amid reports he is planning a public ownership unit within the Treasury to deal with renationalisations.
Earlier, speaking as Labour prepares to gather in Liverpool for its annual conference, with Brexit high on the agenda, the shadow chancellor told the Guardian he would expect his party’s stance to be similar to the one it took in 2017.
“We would be in the same situation there, where we would be saying: we’re accepting that original vote; this is the sort of deal that we want,” McDonnell said.
“I really think people want this sorted. That means negotiating a deal that will meet people’s objectives. So you don’t get hung up on the semantics; you do the deal that will protect their jobs, and address some of the concerns that they had during the referendum.”
He underlined his scepticism about the idea of a vote on the final deal, which will be discussed in Liverpool after more than a hundred constituency Labour parties, and the Labour-supporting unions, called for it to be put on the agenda.
“The debate around the next manifesto will go on, but I really worry about another referendum,” he said.
“I’m desperately trying to avoid any rise of xenophobia that happened last time around; I’m desperately trying…
