Keir Starmer was cheered to the rafters by Labour activists today as he insisted a Brexit referendum could include an option to Remain in the EU.
The shadow Brexit secretary was given an ovation by delegates in Liverpool after using his speech to deliver a pointed rebuke to John McDonnell.
The shadow chancellor caused fury among pro-EU members yesterday by playing down the prospects of a referendum – and insisting that even if one happened it would not offer the public the chance to reverse Brexit altogether.
The remarks sparked an extraordinary public squabble as Sir Keir contradicted his colleague.
And in his conference speech this afternoon, Sir Keir doubled down on the row, diverting from his official script to say: ‘If we need to break the impasse, Labour campaigning for a public vote must be an option.’
Meanwhile, in an interview this afternoon Mr Corbyn refused to say which way he would vote if a Brexit referendum was held again.
Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer was given an ovation by delegates in Liverpool after using his speech to deliver a pointed rebuke to John McDonnell.
Sir Keir was cheered to the rafters by Labour activists today (pictured) as he insisted a Brexit referendum could include an option to Remain in the EU
Mr McDonnell (pictured delivering his conference speech yesterday) fuelled growing splits by insisting a second referendum should not include an option to Remain in the EU
Earlier, Sir Keir had risked fuelling tensions with Mr McDonnell – Jeremy Corbyn’s closest ally – by jibing that he had initially misrepresented the situation because he was ‘up early’ and badly briefed.
Emily Thornberry threatened to raise tensions further with a call for Labour to extend the Article 50 negotiation if it wins the snap election it is demanding.
Labour conference is due to vote later on a motion that would keep the option of a referendum ‘on the table’.
But after a fraught five-hour meeting of officials on Sunday night the text was fudged to avoid binding the hands of the leadership.
In a round of interviews yesterday, Mr McDonnell repeatedly stated that if a referendum was held, staying in the EU should not be on the ballot paper.
‘We argued for remain in the past but we lost that vote so we have to respect that,’ Mr McDonnell said.
‘All the polling that we have seen is that the country is still pretty split down the middle.’
He added: ‘We’re respecting the referendum. We want a general election. If we can’t get that, we will have a people’s vote.
‘The people’s vote will be on the deal itself, and whether we can negotiate a better deal.’
The comments sparked an extraordinary public squabble, with Sir Keir responding to anger from pro-EU MPs by insisting that a Remain option could feature in a referendum.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning why he thought Mr McDonnell had managed to get the position wrong, Sir Keir suggested he might have been overtired.
‘Well, we finished our meeting about one in the morning. And then John was up early doing the media round,’ he said.
Sir Keir also made clear that Labour will reject any deal Theresa May secures from the EU, and pointedly refused to rule out extending the Article 50 process.
Labour has set six ‘tests’ for any Brexit deal, including one which states it must deliver the ‘exact same benefits’ as being in the EU.
‘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. We will vote down a blind Brexit.’
Meanwhile, in an interview with the BBC, Mr Corbyn refused to say which was he would vote if another referendum is held again.
He said: ‘Well we don’t know what the question is going to be in the referendum so that is a hypothetical question. I can’t answer that question because we don’t know what the question is going to be.’
And he refused to rule out delaying Brexit and extending the Article 50 deadline – which sets the clock ticking on the UK’s departure.
He said: ‘That is not in our hands. Article 50 can only be extended by the agreement of the entirety of the European Union.’
Mr Corbyn risked further inflaming the spat today when he hugged an activist who had condemned the EU as a ‘capitalist club’ and rejected the idea of a second referendum.
Mr Corbyn (pictured at a fringe ‘bingo’ event last night) is a long-standing Eurosceptic and has been trying to avoid alienating Labour’s Brexit-backing voters
Sir Keir Starmer (pictured at conference in Liverpool today) responded to anger from pro-EU MPs by insisting that a Remain option could feature in a referendum
Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer (pictured in Liverpool today) jibed at Mr McDonnell as he tried to quell mounting fury from activists over the party’s policy
Blyth Valley Labour Party member David Mallon also told the party’s Brexit debate: ‘I am against having a people’s vote on the basis that in my constituency we voted overwhelmingly to Leave.
‘My worry is if we go against the people’s will, we’ll lose those voters – I implore you all, come to Blyth Valley.’
He urged people to see areas where buildings are crumbling, adding: ‘Tell them why you want us to Remain.’
Mr Mallon said he would have voted Remain in 2016, but is now against it as he believes the EU is a ‘capitalist club’ which is using free trade to ‘take advantage’ of eastern Europeans.
He shared a few words and a warm embrace with Mr Corbyn before leaving the stage.
Asked on LBC Radio whether the Article 50 deadline could be extended, Sir Keir said: ‘Well the answer is it depends, because we don’t know when we’re going to get a deal.
‘The October deadline might slip to November, November might slip to December. I don’t know, I’m not conducting the negotiations so the timeline is not in our control.
‘I don’t think at this stage anybody is talking about extending article 50 but if it has to be extended quite frankly it will be because of the collapsing failure of the discussions and the negotiations.’
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry backed an extension to give a new Labour government time.
Speaking on the conference fringes she said: ‘We should have a general election and on our manifesto we should say ‘we will abide by the results of the referendum’, we cannot obviously leave in current circumstances, we need to extend article 50 – to pre-empt your next question I don’t know how long it will take.
‘But we need to extend article 50 and essentially turn up in Europe and say the ‘grown ups have turned up now, let’s sit down and talk. ‘
Emily Thornberry threatened to raise tensions further with a call for Labour to extend the Article 50 negotiation if it wins the snap election it is demanding
In further signs of divisions last night, shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner said the idea that Mrs May might call another election was ‘Looney Tunes territory’.
Labour’s official position is to push for an election if Brexit talks fail. But, speaking at a fringe meeting at Labour’s conference in Liverpool, Mr Gardiner said it was time to ‘inject some realism into the debate’.
Mr Gardiner said Commons officials had warned him there was little MPs could do to force the PM’s hand in the event of the Chequers deal being rejected.
A senior union leader said today he loathed Margaret Thatcher so much he set his alarm clock an hour earlier so he could ‘hate her for an hour longer’ each day.
Tosh McDonald, president of train drivers union Aslef, told the Labour Party conference he stopped the practice after the former prime minister’s death in 2013 but still wakes early.
Tosh McDonald, president of train drivers union Aslef, told the Labour Party conference he set his alarm clock an hour earlier so he could ‘hate’ Margaret Thatcher for an hour longer’
Delegates booed at the mention of Baroness Thatcher, who Mr McDonald said came to power a month before he started work on the railway in 1979.
Speaking in Liverpool, he said: ‘I hated her. I wish I could be like Jeremy and rise above it but I can’t…
‘I did set my alarm clock an hour earlier than I needed just so I could hate her for an hour longer.
‘Since she died I don’t do that anymore, I just set my alarm at the right time, but I still wake up an hour earlier – I can’t help it.’