Second poll needed on Brexit, says former candidate

Dylan Harrison, who stood for the party in The Wrekin constituency, said the situation had changed considerably since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016.

He commented after two leading pro-European MPs called on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to "get off the fence" and make a clear case for close ties with Europe.

Heidi Alexander, co-chairman of the Labour Campaign for the Single Market, said Mr Corbyn needed to stop hedging his bets and make a clear case for remaining in both the customs union and the single market.

Her fellow co-chairman, Alison McGovern said Labour needed to clear differentiate its policy from that of the Conservatives, which was to leave both bodies but negotiate a trade deal with the EU.

Mr Harrison, who was defeated by Conservative Mark Pritchard at last year's election, said: "I do think we need to come up with a distinctive position, because clearly the Government is very divided on Brexit.

"Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday he wanted to stay in the customs union, and I totally support that, both for the economy and the Northern Ireland peace process, but I would go further and say when the time comes to leave and we see the final deal, that it should be subject to a second referendum," he said.

"We need to give the people an opportunity to have their say on the final deal, whatever that is, because where we are now isn't where we were in June 2016."

Miss Alexander, who served under Mr Corbyn as shadow health secretary, said there was real frustration among Labour members and supporters about the party's position on Brexit.

"The sooner the leadership recognise this, the better it will be for the country," she said.

"The fact that we continue to hedge our bets, when the argument is there to be won, is not doing anyone any favours.

"If we don't get our act together we will see jobs go, the tax-take fall and public services cut further - we can't let that happen."

Miss McGovern, added: "It is time for Labour to get off the fence.

"To end any perception that our party is on the same side as the purveyors of falsehoods like Boris Johnson and Michael Gove we need there to be a real difference between our party's policy and that of Theresa May.

"Words about a 'jobs-first Brexit' are in danger of looking like nothing more than clever rhetoric unless Labour actually backs the policies that will put jobs first by keeping us in the single market and customs union."

However, Councillor Kuldip Sahota, Labour's candidate in the neighbouring Telford seat at the last election, and Dr Laura Davies who contested Shrewsbury and Atcham, both said they were very happy with the way that the party was handling the issue.

Councillor Sahota, who narrowly lost to Lucy Allan, said he respected the result of the referendum, but was extremely concerned about the impact it would have on Telford's economy.

"I think the leadership is being as clear as they can, they are not the ones negotiating in Brussels," he said.

"The Labour policy is to stay in the customs union and single market, and they will stick to that. But the Conservative Government are the ones in the know, the are the ones who are going to dictate eventually what kind of Brexit we have."

Dr Davies said she was perfectly happy with the way the party was handling the issue.

"I don't think discussions about party in-fighting on either side should distract from the fact that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a good deal for Britain, and if they fail to do that, the British public will never forgive them."