Senior Labour figure Emily Thornberry refuses to rule out possibility of a second EU referendum on terms of Government’s Brexit deal
Shadow foreign secretary was asked about Tony Blair's claim the UK's exit from the EU could be stopped
SENIOR Labour figure Emily Thornberry has refused to rule out the possibility of a second EU referendum on the terms of the Government's deal with Brussels.
The shadow foreign secretary will infuriate Eurosceptics after saying “we need to take this in stages" when asked about Tony Blair's recent assertion Brexit could be stopped.
It comes after Theresa May said the "hugely challenging" task of negotiating Britain’s exit is leaving her with little time for sleep as she stressed the need to "get on with the deal".
Asked about the former Prime Minister Mr Blair’s claims on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Mrs Thornberry said: "I think that we need to take this in stages and at the moment we cannot even have a debate as to how it is that we are going to leave the European Union because the Government claim they are keeping their cards to their chest but we know they don't have any cards and they don't even know what game they are playing."
When pushed again on the issue, the key Jeremy Corbyn ally said the process needed to be taken "step by step".
The Labour frontbencher was also grilled on whether she believed the UK could maintain access to the European single market while also demanding control of its borders.
She said: "It is about time we stopped talking about believing in cake, having our cake and eating our cake.
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"We have to look at the options and we have to know that it is a trade-off. We need to be able to have a proper debate within the British public as to what the options are.
"Now, do I think that too many people at the moment come into this country? I think that yes, I think they do."
But Vote Leave campaign chief Michael Gove warned against attempts to over-complicate Brexit, and suggested that transitional measures could be an attempt to effectively keep the UK in the EU.
The former Cabinet minister also said the UK should leave both the single market and customs union and dismissed the idea that EU citizens should be given preference in the immigration system after Brexit.
He told Andrew Marr: "I think when people voted to leave the European Union they voted to take back control of our money, our laws, trade deals and our borders.
"That means that the single market, that is basically a bureaucratic web, we need to be out of.
"And the customs union, insofar as it prevents us forging trade deals with other countries, we should be out of that too."
Responding to the comments by the Shadow Foreign Secretary, Tory MP Maria Caulfield said: “Labour continues to demonstrate they have neither the plan nor the desire to reduce immigration into our country.”
The member of the Exiting the European Union Select Committee added: “With the shadow Foreign Secretary refusing to rule out backing a second referendum and suggesting no changes should be made to freedom of movement from Europe, it’s clearer than ever that Labour are completely out of touch with working people.”