The Labour Party has just approved a complex Brexit policy in the event that there’s an election before a referendum. But it’s not in a good state to win such an election. It should force Boris Johnson to hold a referendum instead.
The party’s conference debated three Brexit motions this afternoon. It backed the two supported by Jeremy Corbyn and rejected the one supported by the party’s pro-European wing.
The circumstances of that defeat were controversial. The chair relied on a show of hands despite admitting there was some confusion about the result. She rejected a call for a “card vote”, which would have given an accurate record of the vote.
Corbyn’s policy is not simple. First, Labour wins an election. Then it negotiates a new Brexit deal with the EU. Then and only then does it decide whether it wants to stay in the EU or leave. At that point, it asks the people what they want in a referendum.
Lots of Labour voters, supporters and MPs have already made their minds up that no Brexit deal could be nearly good as our current deal in the EU. And they are right.
But whatever the merits of Labour’s new policy, it doesn’t look like it will win an election. Quite apart from the complexity, the party is split down the middle on Europe. What’s more, the failed attempt to remove Tom Watson as deputy leader shows there’s a deeper power struggle underway.
There is one way Labour can avoid an election defeat: force a referendum before an election. The party has a wonderfully simple policy in that scenario – back “Remain” and reject any Tory Brexit. In the election that followed, it wouldn’t even need a Brexit policy.
Holding a People’s Vote first is also in the national interest. The referendum would determine what happens on Brexit and the election would then determine who runs the country. Having them the other way round would muddle up the two issues.
Labour’s pro-Europeans have lost a battle. But they haven’t lost the war. They should now try to persuade Corbyn to switch his attention to a referendum – for the good of the country and the good of their party.