LABOUR’S so-called “constructive ambiguity” on Brexit is seeing its support drain away, it has been claimed, after an opinion poll placed it on just 18 per cent; its joint lowest since polling began in the 1940s
A YouGov snapshot put Jeremy Corbyn’s party behind the Tories, who climbed two points to 24 per cent from last week, while the Brexit Party was up one point on 23 per cent and the Liberal Democrats also put on one point to 20 per cent. Labour, by contrast, lost two points to put it on 18, the lowest since May 2009 when Gordon Brown's Government was battling the financial crash.
The poll found just a quarter of Remain backers said they intended to support Labour. This compared to 48 per cent of Remainers who said they would vote for the party at the beginning of the year and 40 per cent who gave it their backing at the end of April.
Just eight per cent of Leave supporters said they would vote Labour compared with 21 per cent, who said they would in January.
Jon Ashworth, the Shadow Health Secretary, said: "I don't believe that would be the result at a general election,” but added: “If that was a result at a general election, it would be devastating for the Labour Party."
But Labour’s Phil Wilson, a leading supporter of the People’s Vote campaign said: “Day after day, poll after poll shows the dismay among voters over Labour’s failure to offer a clear and principled position backing a final say referendum.
“So long as the doubt and confusion continues over whether it will support a final say on any Brexit outcome - and on whether it will campaign to stay in the EU - Labour will continue to shed votes to parties like the Liberal Democrats,” declared the MP for Sedgefield.
The leadership is continuing to consult the trade unions on the way forward with a definitive position expected before Westminster goes into recess at the end of the month.
Senior party figures like Tom Watson, Emily Thornberry and Keir Starmer want Mr Corbyn to swing the party behind the position adopted last month by the Scottish Labour Party: support a second vote and campaign for Remain.
But others around the Labour leader, like Unite's Len McCluskey, want the party to continue to respect the 2016 Brexit result and are fearful if they back Remain, they will lose votes in Labour heartlands.
Asked about the latest poll, Mr Corbyn said: "I never comment on opinion polls, I never have and I never will.”
He added: “Come an election we'll be out there, giving that message - one of hope for the future, not the misery of austerity we have had in the past nine years, the inequality that has brought, the homelessness that's brought and the sense of desperation in so many communities across the Midlands and the north of Britain that have seen no investment since the end of the miners' strike."
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