LABOUR will never form a government again “in my lifetime or even yours” unless it opposes Brexit, Labour peer Lord Foulkes has told Barry Gardiner after the Shadow Cabinet Minister warned a People’s Vote could lead to civil disobedience and social disruption.

Mr Gardiner suggested people could turn to "more socially-disruptive ways of expressing their views" if they felt they had been denied achieving change through democratic means such as the 2016 EU referendum.

He also said the extreme right would be aided by such a situation.

The Shadow International Trade Secretary said Remain and Leave campaigners told people that voting in the EU referendum would determine the UK's future for the next 40 or 50 years, insisting: "We meant it.”

He stressed how Brexit would, in the short to medium term, leave Britain worse off. But, Mr Gardiner insisted, there was more to quitting the EU than economics.

"There is also the social, the democratic principles at play here.

"If you then say to people: 'We did give you a vote and actually we, the Remainers, lost the vote, but because you were stupid enough to do what you wanted rather than what we wanted...' and what those people who want a second referendum are now saying: 'Well, because you voted in the wrong way, we'll give you another chance to get it right'; that undermines the whole principle of democracy in this country.

"You never give as much succour to the extreme right as when you cut off the mechanism of democratic change,” declared the Scot.

"If people want to be able to achieve change through democratic means, if they feel that that is being denied to them, they then turn to other more socially disruptive ways of expressing their views, and that is the danger here."

Pressed on what would happen if there was a second EU referendum, Mr Gardiner told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I didn't say violence on the streets. What I'm saying is that in any situation, if people feel that the route to change is no longer a democratic route, then you look to social disruption, perhaps civil disobedience, in a different way.”

He added: "This is playing with our democracy; it's playing with the foundations of our country in a way that is really, really damaging. We have to respect people's vote in that referendum. We told them we would, we must do it."

But Lord Foulkes, in an email to Mr Gardiner, told his fellow Scot: “I have been reading your comments with increasing alarm. It is clearer each day that Brexit will be a disaster particularly for poorer people.

“The Labour Movement is swinging increasingly behind a People’s Vote. I urge you, and Jeremy, to think again and oppose Brexit or we will never see a Labour Government again in my lifetime or even yours.”

The former Scotland Office Minister, 76, added: “You have a duty to look after poorer people, particularly in the country of your birth and , as an old friend, I urge you to take account of my concerns based on a long parliamentary career.”

Earlier, Mr Gardiner, 61, asked if it was Labour's policy that under no circumstances could there be no Brexit deal, replied: "Absolutely. That is why we have proposed a new customs union and a strong new relationship with the single market."

The London MP said it was "nonsense" to suggest such a stance placed all the power in the hands of the EU negotiators, adding: "No deal is not in their interests either; they want a deal with us."

But his Labour pro-Remain colleague, Ben Bradshaw, the former Culture Secretary, tweeted: "I'm afraid Barry Gardiner in defending #Brexit whatever the cost on @BBCr4today on democratic grounds completely ignores the democratic right of the people to change their minds #BrexitShambles #PeoplesVote."