UK PM opposes Labour proposal for second Brexit referendum
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected a proposal by the opposition Labour Party for accepting a second referendum on leaving the European Union as a prerequisite for reaching a deal that could guarantee a smooth withdrawal from the bloc.
“She (May) has said on many occasions that she is focused on delivering the result of the first referendum,” May’s spokesman said on Monday while referring to the first referendum on Brexit in June 2016 in which Britons voted 52-48 to leave the EU.
The statement came after two senior Labour figures said any deal on Brexit with the ruling Conservatives should have the second referendum option, otherwise it will be highly unlikely to pass as more than 150 lawmakers are ready to vote it down.
May’s government is to begin the seventh week of its talks with the Labour aimed at reaching a solution to the parliament standoff over Brexit.
The talks began after may failed for a third time in early April to gain the approval of the parliament for a deal she had signed with the EU in November.
Pro-Remain lawmakers in the Conservative Party have called on May, also a Remainer, to pull out of the talks and return to the House of Commons for a new series of indicative votes that could lead to the approval of her Berxit deal.
Pro-Brexit lawmakers, however, have urged May to resign in the face of mounting opposition to her Brexit strategy, saying someone else should lead the negotiations with the EU so that the Conservatives could prevent further losses to their public support after they suffered a major defeat in the local elections earlier this month.
May’s failure in delivering on Brexit has caused many Conservatives to begin to support the newly-established Brexit Party, led by veteran politician Nigel Farage.
A Monday poll carried out by the Times newspaper ahead of the May 23 European Parliament elections showed that Tories had fallen to the fifth place behind the Brexit Party, the Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens with only 10 percent of support among the voters.
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