Momentum has said it will not block a debate on Brexit at the Labour conference, meaning the party could see members back a second referendum on the conference floor.
Last year, Momentum steered its delegates to vote on other topics, including housing, the NHS and rail, to swerve a possible vote on single-market membership which could have exposed tensions between the Labour leadership and members.
In Liverpool this year, that will not be repeated, Momentum’s national co-ordinator, Laura Parker, said. “Last year, the context was very different. Now, it’s absolutely inevitable there will be a discussion on conference floor, I can’t conceive there won’t be – we’re 200 days away,” she said. “Without a doubt, there has to be a debate.”
More than 100 constituency Labour parties have submitted motions to the Labour conference calling for the party to back a referendum on any final Brexit deal, which campaigners believe is an unprecedented number.
The drive has been spearheaded by a number of leftwing groups, including Another Europe is Possible, Remain Labour, Labour for a People’s Vote and the student group For Future’s Sake (FFS).
The final motion put to Labour conference is likely to be a compromise thrashed out between delegates from CLPs that have submitted anti-Brexit motions, trade unions and the leadership.
Labour’s governing national executive committee could also offer its own statement as a substitute, rather than risk being defeated on the conference floor in Liverpool by grassroots delegates who support a second referendum.
Momentum has not backed a new referendum and is cautious about doing so. Parker’s instincts are clearly pro-Europe, but she is wary of restricting the Labour leadership’s political flexibility. “We are waiting to see what motions come to conference floor,” she said.
Campaigners backing a second referendum have prepared comprehensive briefing packs for delegates and drop-in sessions during conference.
“The red line is we have to have the phrase ‘people’s vote’ somewhere in the composite,” one campaigner said.
Amanda Chetwynd-Cowieson, an FFS co-founder, said the groups would co-ordinate their efforts. “The one cast-iron agreement across all the groups is that a people’s vote is the way to solve the crisis,” she said.
Parker said she expected a compromise would be reached. “I don’t see a situation where Momentum says, ‘no, take this off the table.’ But that’s not the same of saying, ‘vote on the deal tomorrow’,” she said.
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, and the shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, have already suggested the party will keep the option on the table.
“My view, then, is that we should have a general election because, in a general election, people can not only debate the range of issues in full, they can also select the team that will then negotiate our future position,” McDonnell told a Mumsnet chat on Tuesday.
“If we can’t get a general election, we are keeping the option of another vote – a people’s vote – on the table.”
• A special report by Jessica Elgot on the grassroots movement within Labour for a second referendum will be published online tomorrow.
