Keir Starmer has rebuked an adviser to Jeremy Corbyn for trying to dictate Labour’s policy on Brexit.
In a significant shift in position, Corbyn has announced the party will back a second referendum if Labour’s withdrawal plan is rejected by MPs this week.
Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said on Tuesday morning if Theresa May’s deal gets through parliament, Labour’s policy will be for it to be put to a public vote – with remaining in the EU as the other option.
But last night a party source disputed whether those should be the two options on the ballot.
Starmer told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme it was MPs, not advisers, that set policy.
“I don’t know who said what. What I do know is you have got elected politicians on your programme, you had Emily Thornberry out last night, setting out what the position is we agreed as the Labour Party,” he said.
Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, and other Labour MPs also hit back at the anonymous briefing.
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw added: “When one of Jeremy’s spokesmen undermines him by contradicting him, Keir Starmer and our official policy, thereby becoming part of the story, he needs reining in or to go.”
The Labour leadership’s decision to move closer to backing a referendum has delighted pro-EU MPs.
But it has angered others who worry the new position will alienate pro-Brexit voters.
John Mann, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, warned of electoral catastrophe for MPs in Leave-voting areas in the Midlands and northern England.
“Voters won’t have it. The last person to renege on their manifesto was Nick Clegg, it didn’t end very well for him on tuition fees,” he told Today.
“Our manifesto was unambiguous, we would accept the result of the referendum. A second referendum doesn’t do that and the voters – in very, very large numbers – will not accept that.”
Corbyn’s shift in policy came as Theresa May faced under mounting pressure from cabinet ministers and junior colleagues to signal that she will not take the UK out of the EU without a deal on March 29.
The prime minister has been warned that she could face a ministerial rebellion unless she agrees to delay Brexit if her deal fails to win support from MPs.
The government is also expected to publish previously unseen cabinet papers setting out the dangers of a no-deal Brexit before the debate.
In a sign of unrest within the Tory ranks, three ministers threatened to support a fresh attempt to extend Article 50 to stop the UK falling over a “precipice” on March 29 if there was no deal.
Richard Harrington, Claire Perry and Margot James signalled their support for an amendment, drawn up by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tory Sir Oliver Letwin, which would give the Commons the power to demand a delay to Brexit if an agreement is not in place by March 13.