Jeremy Corbyn has said he will not back a second Brexit referendum before the next general election.
Speaking in Northampton, the Labour leader stuck fast to his party’s position to give voters a choice between a new Brexit deal negotiated by him and Remain if Labour wins power after a general election.
It means he risks a rift with pro-EU Labour backbenchers who are calling for the so-called rebel alliance to force a second referendum first to avoid the election being dominated by Brexit.
Setting out an alternative domestic agenda ahead of Boris Johnson’s new Queen’s speech on Monday, Corbyn also hinted that the Remain option in a second vote would include “some reforms” to the EU.
It is currently Labour’s position to stay neutral in any second vote but the leader continues to face pressure to back Remain.
Answering a question about what vote should come first, Corbyn said: “A second referendum is what we propose under a Labour government, which would be, as I have said, not a choice between a no-deal cliff edge but between an intelligent arrangement with the European Union and Remain.”
He added that “we’re in for a few days of shadow-boxing by Boris Johnson” as the prime minister was set to hold talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Thursday in a last-ditch bid to thrash out a Northern Irish border compromise.
Corbyn said Johnson would be forced to obey the anti-no-deal Brexit legislation – called the Hilary Benn Act – and seek an extension to Article 50 if he failed to get a new deal MPs can back.
Corbyn then said it would be Labour’s position to vote for a general election.
But a number of leading figures who oppose Brexit want a deal to be amended to include a “confirmatory vote”.
Other MPs want to oust Johnson and replace him with a caretaker PM who legislates for a second referendum. Alternatively,
He said: “At the moment, [Johnson’s] behaviour and the language that he has used suggest he is not going to reach an agreement with the European Union.
“Our absolute priority, and this is why I have been talking to other opposition parties, is to make sure that no-deal is taken off the table and an extension of membership is obtained, which is required in the number two act, otherwise known as the Benn Act.
“And after an election a Labour government would introduce legislation to ensure a referendum takes place between, as I have said, the agreement we would reach with the EU, and I’m very confident we can reach that agreement, and Remain. I have to say in Remain, I would also want to see some reforms to the European Union.”
The Conservative Party leader has said he will comply with the Benn Act, but has made apparently contradictory statements that he will also stick to the Halloween deadline.
Corbyn said it was such utterances that were preventing Labour from backing the PM’s calls for a general election, despite “champing at the bit” for a chance to campaign for government.
In a message to Johnson, he said: “Prime minister, we can’t trust you not to break the law because you’ve got form.
“We can’t trust you not to use the period of an election campaign to drive our country off a no-deal cliff edge that will crash our economy, destroy jobs and industries, cause shortages of medicine and food and endanger peace in Northern Ireland.
“So it’s simple – obey the law, take no deal off the table and then let’s have the election.”