Labour 'hits reset button' two weeks out from election
The Labour Party has hit the reset button amid the latest polling saying the Tories are on course to win the General Election, it has been reported.
The party is understood to be changing tack in its campaign, particularly in Leave-voting areas, where it is in danger of losing seats to the Conservatives.
Labour insiders say a key mistake up until now was overestimating the electoral threat from the Liberal Democrats, and underestimating the likelihood of Leave voters switching from Labour to the Conservatives, the BBC has reported.
Jeremy Corbyn did not directly respond to questions on whether he had changed Labour's election strategy.
He reiterated his stance on brokering a "credible" Brexit deal before putting it to a referendum with the option to Remain within six months to bring together a nation that did not vote to lose jobs or working conditions.
"That is a message that I will take out all over the country and our campaign is in every part of the country," he said.
However, shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner told ITV News while strategy was being reviewed constantly, there was no specific, major change.
He said: "Obviously, in any campaign you constantly review what you're doing and that's what we always do.
"We make sure that we're trying to get our message out to every part of the country; it's not a matter of focusing on one area rather than another, it's making sure that you're getting across the real change that Britain needs because we do."
Are there enough Remain voters living in the EU to affect the election result?
Jeremy Corbyn promises to take ‘neutral stance’ in another EU referendum
Labour’s strategy so far had been – in part – to emphasise that the election is about a lot more than Brexit and to get voters to focus on issues which would unite Labour voters in Leave and Remain areas.
Boris Johnson has pressed at every opportunity the need to "get Brexit done" and to highlight the claims of "dither and delay" under any Labour government.
The Labour position has been further muddled by leader Jeremy Corbyn saying he would take a "neutral" stance on any second referendum it brings to the people should he get into power.
The new plan is designed to appeal to those who voted for Brexit, and to try to convince them that Labour is not attempting to stop Brexit by offering another referendum.
Shadow cabinet members who back a Leave deal rather than Remain will have a higher profile in the final two weeks of the campaign.
Jeremy Corbyn and party chairman Ian Lavery, who favours leaving the EU with a deal, will tour Leave areas to try to explain the deal Labour wants to negotiate and emphasise that they will protect workers’ rights.