There’s something Remainers are missing about Unite’s new Brexit policy

Unite is “open to the possibility” of a referendum on the terms of the final deal between the European Union and the United Kingdom, and Labour’s Remainers are delighted – but are they right to be?

The statement – written by Unite’s ruling executive council and passed by Unite delegates at the policy conference – pledges to “mobilise against the deal” unless Theresa May’s offer meets Keir Starmer’s six tests, which it describes as “highly unlikely”. It warns that a “cliff-edge, no deal Brexit” has become a “genuine possibility” under the Tory government, and describes such an outcome as one that would “jeopardise the livelihood of millions of working people”. It also commits to campaigning for Labour in the event of an election triggered by no deal.

The new bit is the declaration of  ‘openness’ to another referendum. This has been cheerily presented as an exciting shift that puts further pressure on the Labour leader to soften his Brexit position. But when you look at the detail, Unite has far from endorsed a ‘people’s vote’ and this doesn’t constitute a “blow to Corbyn”.

The important parts of the statement are the following four words: “depending on political circumstances”. That gives the union’s executive council, which thanks to this statement retains the right to “respond as it thinks best to a fast-changing political situation”, the ability to change its view on another referendum at will. That change will come when it is in the interests of the Unite leadership and the Labour leader they have done so much to support – not on the timetable being clamoured for by Labour’s Remainers.

As Len McCluskey himself put it, Unite is “not calling for a second referendum” because Brexit “matters less than getting the Tories out of office and Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10”. Ultimately, the situation today is the same as it was yesterday: Unite, Corbyn and the Labour Party will not back another referendum unless it becomes undeniable that the move would help trigger and win a general election. This isn’t a game-changer for Labour party policy – it’s the reverse.