A Cabinet minister has suggested there would be a “plausible argument” for a second Brexit referendum if the deadlock over Theresa May’s deal continues.
Amber Rudd, who recently returned to the ministerial benches as Work and Pensions Secretary, indicated support for a fresh vote if parliament “fails to reach a consensus”.
The comments jar with Downing Street’s position that MPs have to choose between the PM’s Withdrawal Agreement, no-deal Brexit or no Brexit at all.
Rudd told ITV’s Peston on Wednesday: ”I don’t want a People’s Vote, or a referendum in general, but if parliament absolutely fails to reach a consensus then I could see there would be a plausible argument for it.
“But I think it is incumbent upon MPs to find the centre ground in Parliament and to try to find where the majority is there.
“I don’t think the majority of people want to be asked again to vote.”
The remarks are the strongest made by a Cabinet minister in support of a second referendum.
Rudd has previously suggested a Norway-plus model soft Brexit could be plausible if MPs were asked to back an alternative to May’s deal.
She backed the idea of an indicative vote where MPs could reveal which options they would back if May’s deal cannot get through.
She said: “I quite like the idea of indicative votes because it would flush out where people’s majority is, so people who hold on to the idea of one option or another would see there’s no majority for that so they need to move to their next preference. We would hopefully be able to find where the compromise and the consensus is for a majority of support.”
MPs will next month vote on May’s deal after a delay last week and a failure to get more concessions from Brussels.
On Tuesday, Downing Street announced, after a three-hour cabinet meeting, that the Government would “ramp up” no-deal preparations – with 3,500 troops on stand-by and an extra £2 billion set aside across 25 Whitehall departments.
May reportedly does not command enough support from Tory hardliners, the DUP or the Labour Party, and has been accused of “running down the clock” on Brexit to force MPs to come round to her plan.
Rudd’s comments come after Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford told reporters in Downing Street that a second referendum would be “unavoidable” if no-deal was agreed by MPs and there was not a general election.
“The Prime Minister should put her deal to the House of Commons and see what support she can mobilise for it and see whether there are any alternatives - a Norway-plus arrangement for example - that might have a better chance of responding to where the centre of gravity in the House of Commons may currently lie,” he said.
“If the House of Commons is deadlocked we need a general election and a new House of Commons. If we are denied that, then it seems to me unavoidable that the decision would have to go back to the people.”