Sir Keir Starmer ramps up second referendum talk

Sir Keir Starmer has said a second referendum would be better than the current Brexit deal Photo: PA - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary has said a second referendum would be ‘far better than this deal’.

A second referendum would be 'far better than this deal'.

Shadow Brexit Secretary @Keir_Starmer says Theresa May is 'taking the option of a deal off the table'.

You can follow live updates from #Ridge here: https://t.co/AEC6jUBJBd pic.twitter.com/JXQSrCsU6I
— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) December 2, 2018

Sir Keir Starmer echoed the words of shadow chancellor John McDonnell who said Theresa May’s Brexit deal had made a People’s Vote ‘inevitable’ if there was not a general election.

Speaking on the Sophy Ridge on Sunday show Sir Keir said: ‘If the deal falls then the next question is are we going to call for a general election … If that doesn’t happen we need to press on to other options such as a public vote.

‘I would like to have something far better than what we have at the moment. This deal is a bad deal.’

READ: Brexit legal advice row deepens

He added: ‘The prime minister has run the clock down. So if we get to a question of a public vote and get into a question of a referendum it will be because the option of a deal – which I think could have been negotiated – has been taken off the table by the prime minister.’

Sir Keir also warned Labour would seek to call a motion of no confidence in the government if May loses a Commons vote on her Brexit deal.

He added: ‘It seems to me that if the prime minister has lost a vote of that sort of significance then there has to be a question of confidence in the government…

‘I think it’s inevitable that we will seek to move that – obviously it will depend on what actually happens in nine days, it will depend on what the response is – but if she’s lost a vote of this significance after two years of negotiation, then it is right that there should be a general election.

‘Because, but for the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, the convention was always if a government loses what’s called a confidence vote – something of such significance – then that government has to go.’

MORE: Digital entrepreneurs warn tech industry will be worse off after Brexit

MORE: CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ: What’s best for women is best for Britain

MORE: May: Labour would be betraying the country by voting down Brexit deal