Today is a key crunch point for Labour, as the party rules on whether it will fully endorse a second Brexit referendum ahead of the EU elections next month. Until now, the party has been happy to stick with its tortuously worded conference Brexit policy, which both sides on the referendum debate have said backs their own position. But with election leaflets ready to print, the party has finally been forced to put its policy on paper.
Already though, it appears the process is causing rifts within the party. The Mirror’s Pippa Crerar reports that deputy leader Tom Watson, who backs a second Brexit vote, has just stormed out of a shadow cabinet meeting, after Labour’s EU policy was displayed on a big television screen, rather than on paper. Apparently Jeremy Corbyn’s office are worried about a draft text leaking before the meetings finally conclude.
Watson himself has issued a non-denial, disputing Crerar’s version of the events, and suggesting that he merely left to find a physical copy at the National Executive Meeting (NEC), where Labour’s new Brexit policy will be voted on:
I think you’ve had an inaccurate briefing.
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