It's reported that members of the Labour Party are heavily in favour of holding a second referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union; apparently, a newspaper poll (carried out at the behest of the People's Vote campaign although this is not stated by the BBC) suggests that 86% of the members are in favour of both a second referendum and remaining in the EU, and the leadership of the party has said that it would be ready to back the membership if a relevant decision is made at this week's Party conference.
To me, this is classic misleading reporting and political skulduggery. Firstly, those who vote Labour and those who are members of the party are very different groups; the Party membership is now very skewed to the extreme left and is hardly representative of anyone but themselves. That the reported poll has been conducted for an organisation that is hell bent on keeping the UK inside the EU, also raises questions about its reliability.
Secondly, the words of the leadership, specifically of Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson, need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Watson has been quoted as saying that the view of Party members must be respected - exactly what does that mean ? Respecting someone's view doesn't mean acting upon it, it simply means listening to it, understanding it and considering it, so actually it means very little. Many of those on whom Labour relies for support are not members but are strongly opposed to the EU - would he be happy to alienate these supporters ?
Corbyn's quoted comments are even more open to question. He has apparently said that he is not calling for a new vote but that he would "adhere to" any decision made at this week's Party conference. What does "adhere to" mean ? What does he mean by his reference to "any decision" made at the conference ? In the past, contentious issues have been either kept away from the main conference floor or debated but not voted upon. If there is no vote, there is no decision and, with Corbyn in charge of arrangements, he won't be likely to allow a vote which binds him to do anything which he's not happy doing.
Given that the Labour Party previously backed leaving the EU and voted in favour of Article 50 when it came before Parliament, for it to now change tack at the behest of the extreme left wing would be a severe blow to our democracy. It would demonstrate total lack of respect for the millions of people who voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum in favour of supposedly showing respect for a few thousand unhappy extremists. Would that be democratic ?
Where will it all end ?
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