SMASH GORDON
Gordon Brown becomes THIRD ex-Prime Minister to call for a second Brexit referendum
GORDON Brown has become the third former Prime Minister to throw his weight behind a second referendum today.
The ex-leader risked fury by demanding that Brits have another chance to have their say - flying in the face of the 17 million Brits who voted Leave the first time.
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In a speech this lunchtime he said that the people were "being asked to deal with a new situation that has arisen" and argued that "none of the major issues are resolved".
"The world has actually changed since 2016," he told an audience in London at the Institute for Government. "There will be a referendum at some point... the people have got a right to have a final say."
And Article 50 could be extended to give more time to get a deal too, he speculated.
Mr Brown predicted that the UK would still be in the EU in future, or would have rejoined it, acknowledging that Britain would in fact ignore the historic 2016 Brexit vote.
The Sun Says
NO-DEAL, and potential chaos, draws ever closer. Do not doubt who is to blame — the EU has simply pushed too far.
Yes, our Government has been incompetent. And Theresa May could yet try to foist on her Cabinet a national humiliation they MUST reject.
But the economic woe a no-deal could unleash, here and abroad, will belong to the EU and its Remoaner cheerleaders.
Brussels has always refused to accept Brexit would happen. Its members normally overturn inconvenient votes. In case we don’t, it insists on dictating not only when we can exit its customs union (spoiler: never) but what
sort of country we can be after we have nominally “left”.
For two years Tony Blair, Nick Clegg and other Remoaners-in-chief sickeningly advised the EU how to bully Britain into negating 17million Leave votes.
If job losses and bankruptcies result, it will not be the “failure of Brexit” some idiotic Remainers crow about. It will be down to a discredited political elite helping Brussels destroy the process.
Our battered Government still leads polls against its toxic, shambolic opposition: Labour’s Brexit spokesman saying it can be stopped, his leader insisting it can’t. Beyond the M25, voters loathe
Labour’s juvenile posturing — and are increasingly enraged by the EU.
They will give credit to the Tories, but only if they reject surrender and have faith in Britain, deal or no deal.
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And he said that as part of attempts to reunite a divided Britain, Theresa May should set up a Royal Commission to engage and listen to views about leaving the EU.
He joins Tony Blair and Sir John Major who have both called for another vote.
But he went on to say how betrayed Leave voters were feeling as Brexit hadn't happened yet.
Mr Brown said: "Leave voters feeling that pledges made at the referendum are not being delivered; for example the promises of being better off, of more money for the NHS, of absolute freedom for the fishing industry and of how easy a clean break would be.
"Most of all, Leave voters feeling that the promise that their voices would finally be listened to - one of the main reasons why they rebelled against the advice of their leaders - is not being honoured."
He said it was "time to act" to prevent Britain experiencing a "toxic future" and Brits from all sides calling betrayal.
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He also said it would be possible for Mrs May to go back to the EU and renegotiate Brexit if MPs voted down her deal.
The ex-PM, who was in power from 2007 - 2010, said that there was "no reason" by Parliament can't go back and ask the Government to try and get a better deal.
With the current mess over Brexit, there was a risk that Britain looked "inward looking, divided and partisan" - more than in the 70s over the three-day week, the 80s miner's strike, and the 90s poll tax, he said.
Sadiq Khan calls for migration tap to stay open after Brexit
SADIQ Khan has called for London to have a special EU deal which will allow freedom of movement after Brexit.
The London Mayor said it would be an "enormas risk" if ministers restrict visas to people who are going to earn over £30,000 a year only.
"I believe that qualified freedom of movement of people is essential to protect economic prosperity in London and the UK in the aftermath of Brexit," he said.
"If the Government prevents European workers from coming here to fill roles in areas such as housebuilding, hospitality and healthcare on moderate salaries, we will see a serious impact on our economy and public services."
He's in Berlin today on a trade mission, and will go on to Paris later this week, arguing that London should still be open after we leave.
His dramatic intervention comes as the PM faces just 48 hours to get a Brexit deal or she has to start actively planning to leave without an agreement.
She has until the end of Wednesday to pull her cabinet together and get the EU on board or she will have to turn the spending taps on for millions of pounds worth of emergency plans.
Ex-minister John Whittingdale warns that Theresa May will have to quit if MPs voted down Brexit deal
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