Brexit: Labour to back a second referendum

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON (AA) - The Labour party has announced that it will support a second referendum on Brexit to prevent Prime Minister Theresa May from forcing the U.K. to leave the EU without a deal.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the U.K.’s main opposition party, will hold a meeting with the parliamentary wing of the party in which he will back an amendment that calls for an extension of Article 50 and will also support an amendment calling for a people’s vote on current Brexit deal.

“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,” a statement released by the party, said.

“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,” the statement added.

“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,” it said.

Labour is still hesitant over whether it should back an already proposed amendment that would see parliament accept May’s deal on the condition that it would be put to a public vote, with remaining in the EU under the U.K.’s current terms the other option.

Corbyn will also put forward an amendment in parliament this week to set out Labour’s alternative Brexit plan that will include a comprehensive customs union with the EU in which the U.K. would have a say, a close alignment with the single market, protection of workers’ rights and the upholding of current environmental standards among others.

On Sunday, May announced that the ‘meaningful vote’ on her Brexit deal, that would have been held this week, would be postponed till March 12, a move that has infuriated her cabinet and MPs and will likely add to the chaos that has engulfed her government and parliament.