Another Brexit referendum is necessary, according to London Mayor Sadiq Khan. He said current negotiations are “mired in confusion and deadlock” and leading the country down a damaging path.
Khan posted the following tweet on September 15: “The Govt is failing in its Brexit negotiations. We now face the real risk of a bad deal, or no deal. Both would cause huge damage to London & the UK. With no general election & time running out, I’m backing a public vote with the option to stay in the EU”.
Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29. British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plans, however, are still not accepted.
As reported by the Reuters news agency, May has repeatedly ruled out a second referendum. She says members of parliament will get to vote on whether to accept any final deal.
The backing of Khan, a member of the main opposition Labour party, for a second referendum will put more pressure on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to change his opposition to the idea when the party meets for its annual conference in a week’s time.
A second referendum, dubbed a “people’s vote” by its proponents, is not Labour party policy, although finance spokesman John McDonnell said last month that no option should be off the table.
Writing in Sunday’s Observer newspaper on September 15, Khan also blamed the government’s handling of the negotiations and said the threat to living standards, the economy and jobs was too great for voters not to have a say.
“The government’s abject failure – and the huge risk we face of a bad deal or a no-deal Brexit – means that giving people a fresh say is now the right – and only – approach left for our country,” he said.
