END OF CORBYN: Labour leader compared to 'catastrophic' Nick Clegg after manifesto U-TURN
JEREMY Corbyn has destroyed any chance he had of ultimately becoming Prime Minister, according to a senior Labour Brexiteer.
Brexit: John Mann fires warning after Corbyn's 'absurd' decision
The death knell was sounded by John Mann on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. He cited Labour’s backing of a second referendum as the final nail in Jeremy Corbyn’s prime ministerial coffin. Host Nick Robinson asked: “Why will it stop him becoming Prime Minister?”
Mr Mann shot back: “The voters won’t have it.
“The last person to renege on their manifesto was Nick Clegg.
“It didn’t end very well for him on tuition fees.
“And our manifesto was unambiguous: we would accept the result of the referendum.
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“The second referendum doesn’t do that and the voters in very, very large numbers will not accept that.
“So I’m calling on Jeremy Corbyn to reverse this absurd decision.
“He prided himself on the politicians who would do what they said: ‘here’s our manifesto, that’s what I will do, I will abide with it.’
“And he’s reneging on it.
“And that is catastrophic for Labour in the Midlands and the North.”
Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry told the BBC a second referendum would "break the logjam", while David Lammy, a supporter of the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum, said a public vote would bring a "decisive mandate to move forward".
But Caroline Flint, Labour MP for Don Valley, said the party was in danger of overturning the election promise to respect the 2016 referendum result.
"We can't ignore millions of Labour Leave voters," she tweeted. "There are Labour MPs like me who will not support a second ref."
And Lucy Powell said she "remained to be convinced" on supporting a second referendum, predicting around 25 of her colleagues would not vote for it.