Pressure on Labour bosses to allow vote on second EU referendum at party conference
3 min read
Pressure is mounting on Labour bosses to allow disputes over Brexit and the reselection of MPs to be aired at the upcoming party conference.
More than half of the 272 debate motions submitted for the Liverpool get-together are about Brexit - with the vast majority calling for a second referendum, according to campaigners.
Meanwhile, grassroots pressure group Momentum revealed a survey showing three quarters of conference delegates back changing internal rules to ensure sitting MPs undergo a contest to be reselected.
Labour policy is currently against a second Brexit referendum - although senior figures have insisted all options should be kept on the table.
However, the Labour grassroots is overwhelmingly pro-EU, and a special committee will have to sift through the 151 Brexit-related motions today to pick which to air on the conference floor.
Labour activist Michael Chessum, from the Another Europe is Possible campaign, urged Labour to make a second Brexit vote a manifesto commitment ahead of the next general election.
He said of the current Labour plan to stay closely aligned to the EU: “Of all the options, soft Brexit is the least popular with the electorate.”
MANDATORY RESELECTION
Meanwhile, a survey by Momentum suggested 77% of Labour conference delegates back moves to further democratise the party including forcing reselection contests.
Labour is currently re-assessing a range of its internal democracy processes before conference gets to vote on a set of proposals - but mandatory reselection is not expected to feature in the plans.
The ruling National Executive Committee is set to meet on Tuesday this week to discuss the proposals in the so-called Democracy Review.
Momentum national coordinator Laura Parker said: “If we can’t make democracy work in Labour, we can’t make it work in the rest of society and we should start by getting our own house in order.
“Measures to open up parliamentary selections, increase grassroots representation on the NEC and give members more of a say in leadership contests are supported by a vast majority of ordinary Labour members, and I hope NEC members will take note of this support when they meet on Tuesday.”
But most Labour MPs - including Shadow Cabinet members - are not sold on the plan, amid concerns it could pose a distraction from the work of an MP.
Just yesterday, Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey told Radio 5 Live: "We want it to be a democratic party, where members feel like they have their say.
“But the other side is if an MP had to go through a mandatory reselection process every three, four, five years, their attention would be drawn away from Westminster."
And Labour MP David Lammy said: "This sort of inward-looking, constant bickering and fighting among factions within the Labour party cannot be beneficial to the voters that we’re here to try and represent.”
The Labour conference will begin on Sunday in Liverpool.
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