Ashfield MP says there is 'no appetite' for second Brexit referendum

In the wake of last week's European election, which saw the Labour Party take a hit in the polls and the rise of both Nigel Farage's Brexit Party and pro-EU outfits, there has been talk of the Labour Party backing calls for a second referendum.

The party previously stated that it would only back a 'people's vote' if it could not successfully achieve a general election before Britain exits the European Union - initially in March and now on October 31.

However, at its party conference last Autumn, party members made it clear they saw it as a direction of choice for Jeremy Corbyn and Labour.

And now members of Labour's front bench are saying the party should follow suit and call for a second referendum - which some believe would help them to capitalise on the surge of pro-EU parties such as the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party in last week's EU election.

But Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero, whose constituency voted 69 per cent in favour of leaving the EU, says there is "no appetite" and that her party should continue to fight to ensure Britain leaves with a deal "that respects the result of the referendum".

She said: “People voted to leave the European Union and they expect politicians to compromise in order to get a deal to carry out their instructions.

“Leaving with a deal is my preferred option and that of the Labour Party, and that’s what we are still fighting for.

“This is what people tell me what they want: there is very little appetite for a second referendum locally and I can count on one hand the number of people who I have spoken to who have asked me for a second referendum.

“People just want a deal that respects the result of the referendum.”

She added in a column written for The Guardian newspaper earlier this week that Labour should focus on "bringing the country back together" and fighting to address the issues nationally which "led to Brexit in the first place".