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Labour have committed to backing a second referendum amendment if their 'soft Brexit' plans are voted down by the Tory-DUP majority in Parliament. Let's break that down #SecondReferendum
Unless there's been a drastic change in Parliamentary arithmetic, MPs will vote a 2nd referendum down. 90%+ Tory MPs will oppose, lots of of Labour MPs - who, we're reminded aren't Corbynites, will vote against, either because they represent Leave seats and/or fear the bitterness
Labour has long been accused of possessing a big red 'STOP BREXIT' button it refused to press. If Parliament now votes down a second referendum which has Labour's backing, then no-one can ever blame Labour for blocking a second vote ever again.
If you're going to claim after a #SecondReferendum vote - oh well it lost because Labour didn't Whip hard enough!! - forget it. This is an epic risk by Labour and they are going to suffer adverse consequences because of it.
Labour can't win an election without a coalition of Remain and Leave voters, which is why it settled on a compromise 'soft Brexit' position. The economically left Leave voters Labour has or needs to win over aren't vocal on social media, but there is a lot of them.
Labour now has to tell its Leave voters, look, we tried, we resisted angry calls for a second referendum, we even had a party split over it, but the Tories' disastrous mismanagement of it all meant we had absolutely no choice whatsoever.
The Labour left was always accused of preferring principle over power. Its effort to build a coalition of Remain and Leave voters caused it infinite grief, but it can't address the injustices that caused Brexit, or end the cause of Britain's crisis - Tory rule - without power.
Passionate Remain campaigners should take credit for Labour's shift, but should be wary about their victory. Their main success isn't winning over Leave voters, but making existing Remain voters more angry about Brexit. I get that, Tory Brexit is an absolute shitshow.
But there's those of us who fear a 2nd ref will be a horribly brutal affair, make the existing culture war 1000 X times worse, distract from solving all the issues we're neglecting, which is why we prefer a compromise 'soft Brexit'. Don't agree? Fine. But it's an honest position.
My own view is Leave would be odds on-favourites to win a new referendum. Their slogan 'Tell Them Again' would be enormously powerful. If a new referendum happens, this is what I suggested Labour must do a couple of months back > theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
If there's a new referendum and the former and current leaders of the Remain campaign run it, it's doomed. A new campaign would have to appeal to millions of people understandably furious with an unjust, broken social order rigged in favour of the elite. Maybe that'd win.
This does, however, destroy the basis of 'The Independence Group'. Their only hope was appealing to the most angry Remain voters. All they have left is a throwback hotchpotch of reheated Blairism and Thatcherism, cuts, privatisation, and pro-rich policies. RIP. 
Let's remember this. The vast majority of us oppose cuts, want the rich and big business to pay more tax, want to invest more in public services and the economy, want public ownership, want a real living wage, want to stop absurd student debt. Whatever now happens, let's unite ✊🏻
