The Shadow Chancellor gave the biggest hint yet Jeremy Corbyn’s party is gearing up to throw their weight behind another ballot
LABOUR could back a second EU referendum if Theresa May refuses to quit, John McDonnell has confirmed.
In the latest Brexit U-turn by Jeremy Corbyn’s party, the Shadow Chancellor gave the biggest hint yet they are gearing up to throw their weight behind another ballot.
He told the BBC if the Prime Minister does not call a General Election after getting back the final deal from the EU, then Labour are “keeping all options on the table”.
And going further than any senior figure in Labour before, he said that includes a “People’s Vote” – the name used by a pro-EU campaign to try and overturn the result of the historic 2016 ballot.
But he was hilariously heckled when he appeared on Sky News and calling for a fresh election, with a passer by shouting “no way!” at him in the street.
Mr McDonnell told the broadcaster: “If we can't have a general election we're keeping all options on the table, including a people's vote.”
It came after he told Radio 4’s Today programme: "If we can't get a general election, we are keeping the option of a people's vote on the table and keeping all options on the table.
"I think the way in which things are going, I think the way in which the Conservative Party are ripping themselves apart, there isn't a deal that I can see being brought back that will achieve the support of the Conservative Party or Parliament.
"In that instance, I'd rather this Government shifts to one side and let us negotiate."
He went even further than Labour’s Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer, who said a second referendum should be “on the table” if Parliament rejects the final deal Mrs May brings back from Brussels.
Responding to the comments Brandon Lewis, Conservative party chair, said: “A second referendum would take us back to square one and would ensure the UK gets the worst possible deal in the negotiations.
“It’s becoming clearer by the day Labour don’t respect the result of the referendum and want to renege on the will of the British people.
“Only the Conservatives are getting on with delivering what people voted for, taking back control of our laws, borders and money.”
Mr McDonnell was speaking ahead of a speech where he will outline plans for force companies to pay some of their profits into “employee funds” which would create a dividend for workers.
LABOUR is the party of quinoa-loving student protesters, voters now believe.
New focus group research shows the crucial swing voters who will decide the next election believe Jeremy Corbyn's party has abandoned its working-clss roots, writes Hugo Gye.
Deborah Mattinson of research firm Britain Thinkstold the : "It was so striking that what people said to us was, Labour used to be working class.
"It used to be a pie and a pint – it’s now a protesting student. It used to be someone playing the bingo - now it’s someone going on a demo."
One focus group participant added: "They used to be a casserole and now they are quinoa."
Those polled said the single best move Labour could make to boost their position in the polls would be to get rid of Mr Corbyn as leader.
But when it came the Tories, they backed Theresa May's leadership - saying that the party should instead hike taxes and boost funding to the NHS in order to get more votes.
But the proposals have already been attacked by business groups, who said while shared ownership was a good idea, the shadow chancellor’s attempt had crossed “the line between encouragement and coercion”, according to the Institute of Directors.
He will tell the TUC Congress in Manchester a Labour government will restore the balance of power in the workplace after it has been "overwhelmingly tipped against workers”.
And the key Corbyn ally will claim the Conservatives have stripped back employment rights to a level not seen since the economic depression of the 1930s.
