Public don't know what Labour stands for on the EU, Harriet Harman says

Jeremy Corbyn ducked a cross-party appearance in support of the EU

Labour MP Harriet Harman speaks as Prime Minister David Cameron and Democrat Leader Tim Farron (left) watch, during a Britain Stronger In Europe campaign event at the Oval cricket ground in London. (PA Images)

Labour supporters have “struggled” to discern whether their party supports or opposes EU membership, Harriet Harman has said.

Ms Harman, who led the party for an interim period last year, made the comments on Monday while standing in for Jeremy Corbyn at a pro-Remain event.

Mr Corbyn skipped the cross-party presentation, which was otherwise attended by leaders of the other main parties: David Cameron of the Conservatives, Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats, and Natalie Bennett of the Green Party.

She cited a media focus on Tory infighting during the referendum as the main reason for the disconnect.

“Labour strongly believes that it’s in Britain’s national interest to remain in the European Union,” she told the event.

“I want people who back Labour and Labour values to know why Labour backs us being in the EU.

“It’s not surprising that Labour supporters have struggled to catch a glimpse of why Labour backs the EU as the media has been dominated by the row in the Tory party.”

Mr Corbyn last week made a speech in defence of the EU, saying Labour supported remaining in the bloc because it guaranteed workers’ rights and environmental protections.

Coverage of that event was however dominated by a row over Labour supporters hissing a BBC journalist who they perceived as providing hostile coverage.

The Labour leader was criticised by GMB general secretary Tim Roache last week who argued that Mr Corbyn had not done enough to make Labours; support clear.

Jeremy Corbyn backs the Remain campaign (Reuters)

A YouGov poll for the Times last week found that 45 per cent of the party’s voters believe it either backs Brexit or were unsure.

A leaked memo from the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign also found that Labour supporters in focus groups were “uniformly uncertain” about the party's stance on the EU.

At today’s cross-party rally, David Cameron made no reference to Mr Corbyn’s absence and instead described the gathering as “an unprecedented show of cross-party unity”.

“We don’t agree about, many things we argue about, but on this we are absolutely united – Britain is stronger, better off, and safer inside a reformed European Union,” he said.

At the same event the Prime Minister accused the Leave campaign of being “undemocratic and reckless” by refusing to lay out a full vision of what Britain would look like outside the EU.

“Undemocratic, because it’s the duty of anyone seeking votes to tell you what they’re asking you to vote for, especially when it’s on something as important as our economy,” he said.

“Reckless, because by refusing to set out an economic plan, they are playing with people’s jobs and people’s livelihoods.”

“They’ve lurched from one idea to another: first they said we should be like Norway, then Canada, then Albania, then America. Along the way they’ve taken us from Iceland to the Isle of Man and Morocco and Moldova. They are sticking pins on a map: they add up to zero concrete plans.”

Tim Farron said the gathering was “an unprecedented and frankly pretty unlikely showing of cross-party consensus” and went on to describe the Leave campaign as “absurd”.

Meanwhile Boris Johnson has today claimed the EU will force Britain to pay more money into its coffers, which he says will amount to a "triple-whammy of woe".

"The risks of remain are massive. Not only do we hand over more than £350m a week to the EU, but if we vote to stay the British people will be on the hook for even more cash," Mr Johnson said.

Boris Johnson said the bill for staying in the EU would increase (Getty Images)

“It is a triple whammy of woe: the eurozone is being strangled by stagnation, unemployment and a lack of growth, it could explode at any time and we will be forced to bail it out.

“The botched bureaucratic response to the migration crisis means the Eurocrats are demanding even more of our money.

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“And now we find that there is £20bn billion black hole in the EU's finances.”

Today's developments come as two new poll show leads for the Leave campaign, while others show Remain ahead. The EU referendum will take place on 23 June this year