Tag: Unite the Union

The Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey, has privately told Labour MPs the party should have severe reservations about backing a fresh Brexit referendum, saying voters could see it as a betrayal. The deep scepticism from one of Jeremy Corbyn’s closest and most powerful supporters is likely to unnerve MPs and campaigners hoping the party is warming to the idea of a fresh Brexit vote. The private intervention comes at a fractious time for the party, as the leadership agonises over what its tactics should be if Theresa May loses a vote on the Brexit deal in parliament. McCluskey said he believed Labour MPs would need to eventually back some version of a Brexit deal, sources said. I wouldn’t say that majority of MPs agreed with him at all. Watson said a second vote would only come after “a failure of parliamentary arithmetic and political leadership”. However, other close allies of Corbyn remain sceptical about how a second vote would go down in leave-backing Labour constituencies; and the party’s pollsters have been researching the views of voters in heartland seats. There are also fears that a significant minority of Labour MPs would not back the policy, even if it was backed by the frontbench. Snell, the MP for Stoke Central, told the Guardian he had “huge reservations about the practicalities and politics of holding a second referendum and that is a view that is shared by more and more Labour MPs”. “The fragility of the government along with their obvious lack of majority means we are more than likely heading toward a general election,” he said.