Katy Balls Katy Balls

John McDonnell suggests Labour could be open to referendum before election

The Labour party is abuzz with talk that the party could back a second referendum before a general election. It’s not that Jeremy Corbyn has suggested such a move is on the cards – in fact, this week he’s been saying the exact opposite while setting out his stall for a general election. However, John McDonnell has used an interview with Alastair Campbell for GQ to open the door to the possibility of holding a second referendum first. Asked which ought to come first, McDonnell says while his preference remains a general election ‘let’s see what actually parliament will wear in the end’:

AC: Do you agree with me that there shouldn’t be an election?

JM: I’m more of the view that we’ve said up until now that we want a general election. That, of course, is what our objective is, but let’s see what actually parliament will wear in the end. Within parliament itself there is a large number of people who are saying we’d rather have a referendum attached to any deal.

McDonnell has gone further than Corbyn on the issue – with the Labour leader this week pouring cold water on the idea. It’s not the only unhelpful comment he made in the interview – the shadow chancellor also suggested that Corbyn would stand down if Labour lost the election.

McDonnell’s comments come as a cross-party group of MPs plot to try and force a second referendum in the coming weeks. There’s talk of using the session of parliament planned for next Saturday to bring about a vote on support for a second referendum. This is a prospect that has been voted on many times before – and to little avail.

However, as I reported earlier this week there are concerns on the Tory benches that this could be changing with more MPs now coming around to the idea.

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