Royal College of Nursing votes for referendum on final Brexit deal

It had been proposed by the body’s Greater Glasgow group and mandated the organisation to lobby the government on the issue.

The RCN remained neutral in 2016 when the first Brexit referendum was passed and one member at today’s meeting argued it should have remained so.

But the vote makes it the first major trade union to support a second referendum.

MPs will get a “meaningful vote” in the House of Commons on Prime Minister Theresa May’s terms negotiated for leaving the EU.

Neither the Conservatives nor Labour back carrying out another poll.

The UK is due to leave the EU in March 2019, irrespective of whether MPs back or reject the terms of the deal negotiated by the government.

The RCN debate was held in Northern Ireland, which shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland and it is one of the most vexed issues facing Brexit negotiators.

The RCN’s UK steward Kevin Bell said: “No-one from the North of Ireland was facilitated to speak.

“We are the most affected part of the UK when Brexit comes in.”