Labour would fight a snap general election vowing to press ahead with Brexit, but it would secure better terms, John McDonnell has said, defying demands from party members to include a second-referendum pledge in any manifesto. Labour has repeatedly made clear that it would prefer this option over a “people’s vote” on any deal. The shadow chancellor also suggested on Saturday that the rail industry could be renationalised within five years under a Labour government. Advocates of a people’s vote would like to see Labour shift its position decisively towards advocating a poll on whatever deal is struck with Brussels. McDonnell told the Guardian he would set up a public ownership unit inside the Treasury, allowing him to personally oversee one of Labour’s most transformative economic policies: the nationalisation of public utilities.

Source: The Guardian September 22, 2018 05:01 UTC