Richard Leonard and Jeremy Corbyn are coming under massive pressure from Scottish Labour activists to ensure the party backs a second Brexit referendum in the European elections.
Ten members of the party’s Scottish Executive Committee, including Labour Euro-MP David Martin, have signed a statement calling on the Labour leaders to recognise the need for a People's Vote.
Labour members are also being urged to write to the Scottish leader ahead of today’s crucial meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee in London.
Leonard will represent the Scottish party at the meeting to draft the election manifesto.
It is expected to stick closely to the conference policy of supporting a referendum only to prevent a Conservative Brexit deal.
But a statement signed by a third of the Scottish party’s ruling body, the SEC, has urged the national body to back a second ballot and reminds the UK national executive committee that Scotland voted 62 per cent to Remain in the EU.
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The Peoples’ Vote campaign has also urged supporters to write to Leonard, calling on him to personally back “a clear commitment from Labour to back a public vote”.
In an online appeal to Labour supporters to email the Scottish leader the Remain campaign stated: “We need Richard to stand up for Labour members and the majority of Scottish voters by supporting a confirmatory ballot on any Brexit deal.”
Meanwhile, three Labour candidates for Westminster elections have written a Daily Record article calling on Labour to take a firm Remain stance.
Martin McCluskey, one of the Labour candidates, said: “Today, we hope that Labour’s NEC agrees to listen to Labour voters, party members and trade unionists, the majority of whom all back a People’s Vote, and decide to include this in our manifesto for the EU elections.
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Ian Murray MP, a member of the SEC, also added his name to the calls for a second referendum.
He said: ““This is a pivotal moment for the Labour Party.”
Manuel Cortes, the general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association said Labour needed to reflect the “overwhelming” position of its members in its manifesto for next month’s European elections.
The heads of Unison, the GMB and Usdaw have already backed a second vote.
GMB general secretary Tim Roache said: “It must be the public who have the final say on Brexit. A grubby political stitch-up to meet the needs of internal Tory party politics, rather than the best interests of our country, won’t put this question to bed for a minute, let alone a generation.”
A spokesman for Leonard said: “Richard will be putting forward the case to do all we can to prevent the Tories’ bad deal, and a disastrous no deal.
