Labour civil war brews over Brexit

Labour civil war explodes as top MP warns that second vote would let down the public

A top Labour MP, Angela Rayner, has cautioned that having a second Brexit referendum would prove that politicians had “failed the public”.

The Shadow Education Secretary, Ms Rayner, tore into her party’s calls for a so-called ‘People’s Vote’. Ms Rayner told Sky News: “Well, our conference motion was very close and we said we wouldn’t rule that out.”

“But let me be clear. I think that if we end up in a second referendum then us as politicians have failed the public.”

“We’ve failed to be able to do our job.”

“I will see that as a really difficult situation for us all to be in.”

Is this yet another major embarrassment to a party that is seriously divided over the Brexit fiasco?

Rayner’s warnings come days after Labour MP Ian Lavery and a senior ally of Jeremy Corbyn said giving the public a second chance to vote on Brexit “risks serious damage” to the relationship between voters and politicians.

Angela Rayner has served on the Labour frontbench continuously since Jeremy Corbyn became the leader. She has also spoken of the hardship of growing up on a council estate and being pregnant as a teenager.

Corbyn the Fence-Sitter? 

Brexit signals from the Labour leadership have been confusing to the public, with many sources accusing MP Jeremy Corbyn of fence-sitting and dithering.

Recently, a cross-party group of MPs abandoned their plans to put an amendment forward calling for a second referendum and pointed the finger at Mr Corbyn.

Labour MP Luciana Berger said: “At a time when Labour should be championing a People’s Vote, the leadership avoids answering that call. Because the Labour leadership and frontbench won’t back a People’s Vote, there will not be a vote on the cross-party People’s Vote amendment next week.”

Meanwhile, the LibDems (being the only party that has a clear pro-Remain stance) have largely failed to capture the fancy of the UK public. This may inadvertently be related to public mistrust, as many university students and their families may never forgive the party for its previous tuition fees U-Turn.