Corbyn: I will be bound by party decision on second referendum

Jeremy Corbyn will be "bound" by any vote at the party's conference in Liverpool to support a second referendum on Brexit.

But the Labour leader made clear he still believes an early general election is the best way to resolve the political crisis over Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

He said his party was ready to "put our case to parliament" for an early poll, in comments likely to fuel speculation that Labour will table a vote of no confidence in Theresa May if talks with Brussels fail. Mr Corbyn was speaking as a poll found 86pc of Labour members think voters should have the final say on the outcome of Brexit negotiations, and 90pc would now vote to remain in the EU.

Pro-EU activists were staging a rally and march in Liverpool as the annual conference got under way, in a bid to pile pressure on the leadership to back a so-called 'People's Vote'.

Many activists believe, with Mrs May's plans in disarray following the rejection of her Chequers proposals by EU leaders in Salzburg, the time is now right for Labour to call for a fresh ballot. Mr Corbyn confirmed there will be a vote on the party's Brexit stance during the four-day conference.

But it remains unclear whether the terms of any motion will enable delegates to commit Labour to a referendum.

Asked whether he would feel obliged to respect a vote by delegates demanding a second referendum, Mr Corbyn told BBC1's 'Andrew Marr Show': "Let's see what comes out of conference. Obviously I'm bound by the democracy of our party.

"There will be a clear vote in the conference. I don't know what's going to come out of all the compositing meetings that are going on."

Mr Corbyn declined to say which way he would vote in any new in-or-out poll, while pointing out he backed Remain in the 2016 referendum.

A YouGov survey of more than 1,000 Labour members for 'The Observer' found 86pc support a referendum on the outcome of Brexit talks, against just 8pc who oppose it.

Meanwhile, the UK's shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland has warned that a no-deal Brexit would give credence to those who wish to return to violence in the North.

Tony Lloyd was speaking on the BBC's 'Sunday Politics'.

He said that if the United Kingdom exited the European Union without an agreement, it would be "disastrous for Northern Ireland" and could see a return to the way borders were operated during the Troubles with armed checkpoints.

When challenged that he was scaremongering, Mr Lloyd pointed to comments from PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton, who said that the Border would be a target for paramilitaries in the event of a hard Brexit.

The veteran Labour MP said it was important that the Good Friday Agreement was protected and progress made during the peace process was not lost.