Keir Starmer has admitted he was “disappointed” Labour’s conference voted against committing the party now to backing Remain in a second referendum, but predicted it was “obvious” the party membership would eventually do so.
Jeremy Corbyn survived a
Labour revolt over
Brexit on Monday when the conference backed his policy of remaining neutral until after a general election.
A motion which would have called on the party to come out in support of Remain immediately rather than waiting until after an
election was rejected.
Speaking at an event hosted by POLITICO on the fringes of the Brighton conference after the vote, Starmer said “of course” he would have liked the vote have gone the other way.
“We had a vote and the vote went the way it did. I’ve said for some time, over and over again, I would campaign for Remain so obviously I’m disappointed by the result,” he said.
But the shadow Brexit secretary said it “highly likely” the party would decide to become explicitly pro-Remain after the election at the planned special conference. “It’s obvious the way this is going to end up,” he said.
Starmer also said he had “mixed feelings” about the idea that Corbyn could remain neutral in any second
referendum by avoiding picking sides.
“Let me try to be as fair as I can be: Brexit is a very, very difficult issue for the Labour Party, obviously,” he said.
“What Jeremy is trying to achieve, in fairness, is to say that given the division across the country, somebody has got to be prepared to say we’ll have a referendum to try to find a way forward and I’ll stay above that and faithfully implement the outcome.”
Starmer, who has slowly pushed Labour towards a more pro-Remain position since the referendum, predicted parliament would “probably collapse into general election by November”.
Corbyn has been under intense pressure from senior Labour figures, including some of his close allies, to commit the party to Remain.
The Labour leader has been warned the party could lose votes in Leave supporting areas of the country if it is seen to be too pro-EU.
But other sections of the party have argued it risks being squeezed by the Lib Dems if it does not support continued EU membership.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said this morning there was no deal that could be better than staying in the EU. “I can’t see we could get a better deal than Remain and I would campaign for Remain,” he told the BBC.
And Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, told the conference today that “I for one will be out there campaigning to Remain”.Related... Labour Will Enter General Election Without Pro-Remain Brexit Pledge