UK opposition Labour is closer to backing second Brexit referendum

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Britain's opposition Labour Party is getting closer to supporting a second Brexit referendum, its deputy leader Tom Watson told BBC TV on Sunday.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is under pressure from many of his lawmakers to explicitly support a second referendum when parliament gets an opportunity to vote on the next Brexit steps this week.

So far he has only said that all options, including another public vote, should remain on the table.

Asked whether this would be the week Labour comes out in support of a second referendum, Watson said: "It might be ... We are getting closer to that point."

Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, appears on BBC TV's "The Andrew Marr Show" in London, Britain, February 24, 2019. /VCG Photo

"We are heading in that direction but there is still more play in the days ahead," he said.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain's exit from the European Union must not be frustrated and the government must focus on delivering it.

May is trying to get changes to the divorce package before putting it to another vote in parliament. If she fails, May will have to decide whether to delay Brexit or endanger the world's fifth largest economy by leaving without a deal on March 29.

"Our focus to deliver Brexit must be absolute," May told Conservative Party activists on Saturday, according to the BBC.

Theresa May (L) is welcomed by the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (R) prior to a bilateral meeting on Brexit talks in Brussels, Belgium, February 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

"We must not, and I will not, frustrate what was the largest democratic exercise in this country's history. In the very final stages of this process, the worst thing we could do is lose our focus."

Three British cabinet ministers have publicly indicated they will back plans to delay Brexit if MPs vote down May's plan for a new deal with the European Union.

Business minister Greg Clark, work and pensions minister Amber Rudd, and justice minister David Gauke signaled in a Daily Mail column that they will side with rebels and opposition parties to stop Britain leaving without a deal if necessary.

May has promised that if she does not bring a revised deal back by Feb. 27, parliament will have an opportunity to vote on the next steps.

Some MPs are expected to use that to try to wrest control of the process from the government.

Source(s): Reuters