The British Labour Party is not trying to "frustrate" the process of Britain leaving the European Union despite keeping open the option of a referendum on remaining in the EU, the UK's shadow Brexit secretary has said.
Keir Starmer was given a standing ovation at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool as he confirmed that the possibility of ditching Brexit could be in any future referendum called on the outcome of the process.
The Labour frontbencher indicated the party was set to vote against British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan when it is put to a vote in the House of Commons and said it should trigger a general election if Mrs May was unable to win the approval of parliament.
He set out his support for the option of a referendum if no general election is called - a policy delegates at the conference will vote on later today.
Mr Starmer, who has confirmed he would vote to stay in the EU in any future referendum, said he was "devastated" by the 2016 Brexit vote.
Around two-thirds of delegates got to their feet to applaud the key passage in his conference speech as he set out Labour's approach.
Mr Starmer said that if Labour could not secure a general election "we must have other options".
"That must include campaigning for a public vote," he said.
"It is right that parliament has the first say but, if we need to break the impasse, our options must include campaigning for a public vote and nobody is ruling out Remain as an option."
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Mr Starmer’s comments departed from the text of his speech and came after shadow chancellor John McDonnell indicated that any referendum may be on the terms of Brexit, rather than whether to reverse it.
The shadow Brexit secretary has insisted there was no division and Mr McDonnell's initial assessment may have been due to being "up early" for his interviews on Monday, just hours after Labour's policy motion was thrashed out in Sunday night's marathon meeting.
Explaining Labour's strategy for the looming Commons showdown on whatever deal Mrs May brings back from Brussels, Mr Starmer said there was "division, chaos, failure" under her premiership and "the Government has no credible plan for Brexit, weeks out from the deadline".
"The Tory civil war on Europe that has been going on for years now risks our prosperity," he said.
"The party that once promised that it would fix the roof while the sun was shining is now intent on burning the whole house down.
"So I've got a message for the Prime Minister: if your party wants to tear itself apart, that's fine ... but you're not taking our country with you."
It is "increasingly likely" that whatever plan Mrs May brings back to the Commons will fail to meet Labour's tests for a Brexit agreement and if so "we would vote against her deal", he added.
Labour would also vote down a "vague" deal, a so-called "blind Brexit" that did not spell out details of the future relationship.
"This is not about frustrating the process," he said. "It is about stopping a destructive Tory Brexit."
No-deal Brexit better than current EU offer - May
Mr Starmer's comments come as Mrs May signaled that she would prefer a no-deal Brexit to the offer currently put forward by the European Union, stressing that Britain needs to see counter-proposals from the EU to move Brexit negotiations forward.
"I’ve always said no deal is better than a bad deal. I think a bad deal would be a deal that broke up the United Kingdom," Mrs May said when asked whether a no-deal Brexit was better than one similar to the existing Canada-EU trade deal.
Her spokesman said later that she was specifically referring to the type of deal the EU is currently offering on future trade, which Britain believes will split England, Wales and Scotland from Northern Ireland by insisting Northern Ireland adhere to different customs rules.
Her position also effectively rules out alternative Brexit proposals put forward by rebel eurosceptic members of her own party, which are based on a wide-ranging free trade agreement similar to that agreed between the EU and Canada.
Speaking to reporters on her way to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, Mrs May said she welcomed a subsequent acknowledgement from European Council President Donald Tusk that the bloc still wanted to strike a deal.
"I think what he’s clarified is that there is hope and expectation and desire for a deal on the side of the European Union," she said.
But Mrs May said the onus was still on the EU to break the deadlock on Chequers.
