Unite Union Leader Says Not Calling for 2nd Brexit Referendum

(Bloomberg) -- The leader of U.K. workers’ union Unite said it isn’t calling for a second referendum on Brexit, as the biggest union stepped back from a move that could have forced the Labour Party to take a more anti-Brexit stance.

“Let me be clear, we are not calling for a second referendum,” Len McCluskey told a conference of Unite members. “In or out of the EU matters less than getting the Tories out of office and Jeremy Corbyn into number 10.”

Unite is Labour’s biggest financial backer, so its decision are influential on the party, which has been edging slowly toward maintaining closer EU ties after the split. A poll before the conference indicated that a majority of members would back a second referendum.

“Unite’s policy will be set here by our elected delegates and our elected Executive Council, and not by any unrepresentative opinion polls commissioned by God knows who,” McCluskey said.

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