Almost 80 per cent of Labour members want a second EU referendum - poll

Almost eight in ten Labour members want a second EU referendum, a new poll has suggested.

Some 78 per cent want a vote on the final Brexit deal while 87 per cent want the UK to stay in the European single market, according to the YouGov poll for Queen Mary University.

The call for another referendum highlights the split in the party on the issue. Just 65 per cent of Labour supporters voted to Remain in the 2016 referendum and 35 per cent voted Leave.

The numbers will also pile pressure on Labour bosses to further soften their stance on Brexit and call for closer ties with the bloc.

Researchers who worked on the poll wrote: "It will be interesting to see whether a leadership that is apparently so keen to take members’ views seriously will in the end move all the way, as opposed to just part of the way, towards them."

It comes after 70 Labour councillors wrote to Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer demanding the party offer voters a rethink on quitting the EU.

Jeremy Corbyn has ruled out holding a second referendum but has softened his stance on leaving the single market and customs union in recent months.

But the top team is split on a second vote, with deputy leader Tom Watson refusing to rule one out when asked in December.

Elsewhere, the YouGov poll found just a quarter of Tory members want the UK to stay in the single market and customs union.

And it found just over half of the Tory grassroots support a return to the death penalty.