Brexit: Britain's trade unions to take major step towards backing Final Say referendum

Union leaders to make statement on state of Brexit negotiations as they gather for annual conference in Manchester

Britain’s trade unions are set to take a major step towards backing a Final Say on Brexit when they gather in Manchester for their annual conference.

The leadership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which brings together all Britain’s major unions, is expected to call for the option of a second public vote to be kept on the table amid growing fears of a no-deal Brexit, The Independent understands.

The organisation’s General Council will issue a statement on Sunday in which it is expected to deepen its opposition to a hard Brexit and take a significant step towards backing a Final Say vote.

Union delegates could demand an even stronger stance later in the week when they vote on two motions that explicitly call for a public vote on any deal Theresa May negotiates with Brussels.

It comes as a new poll revealed members of Britain’s three biggest unions – Unite, Unison and the GMB – backed a new referendum by an overwhelming margin.

The Independent’s own campaign calling for a Final Say has now been backed by more than three quarters of a million people.

GMB, the UK’s third largest union, and TSSA, which represents transport workers, have already joined the growing calls ahead of the 150^thTUC conference, which runs until Wednesday.

The TUC moving in the same direction would add to pressure on Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party to back a Final Say referendum.

Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, hinted at a shift earlier in the week when she told The Independent that people deserved a say on the final Brexit deal.

Admitting that there was a growing appetite for another public poll, she said: “I’m a trade unionist and there is no way that union negotiators would go into a negotiation about what is going into a deal without getting the approval of the membership.”

The hardening of the TUC’s position is understood to result from growing concern about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit and its impact on workers.

A TUC spokesperson said: “We will be advancing our policy in light of the government’s failure to move negotiations towards a deal that will give working people the protection they need for their jobs, workplace rights and livelihoods.”

Mr Corbyn’s team will be closely following the TUC’s deliberations for signs of shifting sentiment among Labour’s union allies and their members.

The party has so far refused to support calls for a second vote, with Mr Corbyn insisting last month: “It’s not our policy to have a second referendum, it’s our policy to respect the result of the referendum.”

However, the Labour leader appeared to soften his stance earlier this week and left open the possibility of backing a “People’s Vote”, telling reporters: “We don’t have a position on it yet.”

And the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, today said Labour would “keep all options open”.

On Monday, union delegates at the TUC conference will vote on two motions demanding the organisation back calls for a referendum on the final Brexit deal.

One has been tabled by the TSSA union, a strong backer of Mr Corbyn. It points out that union members are given a vote on collective deals negotiated on their behalf, and calls on the TUC “to campaign for ordinary people to have a final say through a referendum on any Brexit deal agreed so that people can make an informed decision on the deal on offer”.

The second motion, proposed by the Royal College of Midwives, says: “Congress, recognising the real risk of a collapse in the talks, a deal that does not deliver on the TUC’s priorities, or parliamentary deadlock, therefore calls for the option of a public vote on the final Brexit deal to be kept on the table.”

It expresses concern that “inept mishandling of the exit negotiations and bitter divisions on the government benches pose the very real risk of a disastrous ‘no-deal’ Brexit”, adding that in such a scenario “workers will be the ones who are hit hardest”.

A third motion, tabled by UK’s largest union, Unite, says the option of a public vote should be kept on the table.

The 150^th TUC Congress will hear from Mr McDonnell and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Mr Corbyn has attended in previous years but will not be in Manchester this year.