Jeremy Corbyn will back a confirmatory referendum on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, a Labour shadow Brexit minister has said.
Jenny Chapman said if the prime minister puts a new Brexit deal to MPs on Saturday, she expects backbenchers to try and attach an amendment that lets it pass a Commons vote subject to a confirmatory referendum being held, and Labour will support it.
The issue has been at the heart of the recent Brexit split between Corbyn and other senior party figures like shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
Chapman, however, said Corbyn was now on board with the confirmatory vote plan.
She told BBC One’s Andrew Neil Show: “The expectation would be that should a deal be tabled on Saturday, and we don’t know that that is going to happen, but if it is, I am as sure as you can be that there will be an amendment tabled that would want to see a referendum attached to the deal.
“I would expect us to support that.”
Asked by Neil if she had “told Jeremy Corbyn this”, Chapman replied: “No he’s told me this.”
Neil insisted that Starmer wants a confirmatory referendum on Johnson’s deal but “Mr Corbyn is not arguing for that”.
Chapman replied: “Mr Corbyn is arguing for that, he was answering a specific question on Sunday I watched the whole interview so I know the context of it.
“We’re presented now with a day on Saturday, where we can get something not ideally what we’d like but something that we’ve been asking for.”
She added: “I think on Saturday if there is that opportunity then the Labour party will take it.”
A Labour source later added: “We will look at the wording of any amendments carefully but we believe the people should have the final say.
“Of course our preference would be for a general election and to deliver a Labour government but, as we have said, any deal negotiated in this parliament should be subject to a confirmatory vote.”
Chapman said she, like Corbyn, “would rather have a general election”.
“But we are not in control of this unfortunately,” she said.
“So should that opportunity come on Saturday to have that referendum on the deal - the deal which we don’t know yet is going to be there...
“In that circumstance there’s an opportunity there and the pragmatic, sensible thing for the Labour party to do, given that we’ve been asking for this, would be to take that opportunity.”