Jeremy Corbyn confirms Labour will back second referendum as MPs reject his Brexit vision
Video report by ITV News Political Correspondent Paul Brand
Jeremy Corbyn says Labour will back another EU referendum after his alternative Brexit plan was again defeated in the Commons.
The House of Commons emphatically rejected Mr Corbyn’s Brexit vision by a margin of 240 votes to 323.
Despite the 83-vote defeat, Mr Corbyn said he would continue to push for a version of his Brexit plan, but also confirmed Labour would now back a referendum if faced with a "damaging Tory Brexit" or a "disastrous" no-deal departure from the European Union.
The 69-year-old also insisted Labour would continue to push for "other available options", including a general election, to prevent either Theresa May's deal or the UK crashing out without an agreement.
“We will back a public vote in order to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit or a disastrous no deal outcome," Mr Corbyn said after the vote.
Speaking on ITV's Peston, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Labour could push for a referendum as soon as Mrs May's deal comes back to Parliament.
But he added: "We are still going to argue that we want a general election, we are still going to argue we think our deal that we have put up was the best option.
"But we realise... we have got to break this deadlock."
He suggested "either a deal will go through which will protect jobs and the economy or, to get some deal through, it will be conditional on going back to the people".
ITV News Political Correspondent Paul Brand reports on a "chaotic night" in the Commons which allegedly saw some Conservatives, including it is claimed, the Prime Minister, unsure on which way they were meant to be voting.
The defeat of Mr Corbyn's Brexit plan was the most significant outcome of Wednesday's Brexit votes in the Commons which had been expected to see a number of ministerial resignations if MPs had voted on Mrs May's deal.
However, the Prime Minister's dramatic announcement on Tuesday that she would allow MPs to vote on delaying the UK’s EU withdrawal beyond March 29 and subsequent pushing back of the vote on her Brexit deal until March 12, meant that only amendments were voted on.
The result is that any Conservative bust-ups have now been delayed for up to two weeks, as Mrs May prepares to bring her Withdrawal Agreement back to the Commons for a “meaningful vote” on March 12.
If she fails to overturn the 230-vote mauling the Agreement received in January, votes will be held on the following days on blocking a no-deal Brexit on March 29 and extending the two-year Article 50 negotiation process.
Mrs May’s U-turn threw a spotlight on the Labour leader, whose “constructive ambiguity” on Brexit has long frustrated those in his party who back a so-called People’s Vote and played a part in the defection of eight MPs to the new Independent Group last week.
Labour’s annual conference voted to keep a second referendum on the table, but made clear that the party’s priority was an early election to allow it to implement its Brexit plan for a customs union with a UK say, close ties with the single market and dynamic alignment with EU workplace and environmental regulations.
A briefing note to Labour MPs made clear the party would back the inclusion of Remaining in the EU on the ballot paper, as an alternative to a “credible Leave option”, but would not back no-deal being a choice on offer.
In Wednesday's votes, MPs also rejected an SNP amendment which required the Government to rule out a no-deal Brexit "under any circumstances" by 324 votes to 288 - majority 36.
Labour former minister Yvette Cooper's bid to pin Mrs May to commitments made to the Commons on the Brexit process - including allowing MPs to delay Brexit if her deal is rejected again next month - was approved by 502 votes to 20, majority 482.
The vote was forced by Tory Brexiteers voicing their opposition to the proposal.