LABOUR MPs are being "pushed to the brink" by the leadership's refusal to throw the party's weight behind a second referendum, Ian Murray, the pro-Remain backbencher has warned.
The Edinburgh South MP spoke out amid growing speculation that Labour MPs could quit the party out of frustration with leader Jeremy Corbyn's stance on EU withdrawal.
Chuka Umunna, the former frontbencher, said on Thursday he did not "give a damn...about keeping any party together" when compared to the overriding priority of the national interest in avoiding a no-deal Brexit.
Chris Leslie, the former Shadow Chancellor, told the House of Commons that Labour supporters were being "played for fools" by a leadership, which would not put into effect a motion passed unanimously at annual conference to keep the option of a second referendum on the table.
Labour insists that the option of a so-called People’s Vote does remain on the table but Mr Corbyn's focus in recent weeks has been on his five demands for a Brexit involving a customs union with the EU, close alignment with the single market and matching workplace and environmental protections.
Mr Murray said the party had gone through all of the stages set out in the motion - including seeking an early election - and should now formally move to backing a second EU poll.
"The leadership are doing everything they possibly can to stop that from happening. That's why people are increasingly fed up," declared the Scot.
He said "a lot" of Labour MPs were "fed up" with the leadership position on Brexit and on anti-Semitism.
"It's not just Labour MPs who are being played for fools, it's the country and Labour Party members and supporters.
"There is a very solid party policy on the table at the moment that was agreed at party conference - and Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer took a standing ovation when he mentioned a People's Vote with an option to Remain.
"It's what Labour voters, Labour supporters, Labour members want, it's what the country is increasingly looking at to try to break the impasse in Parliament,” Mr Murray told BBC 2’s Politics Live.
Asked if he could quit Labour, the Scot replied: "I've never considered that but we are all being pushed to the brink with the issues around Brexit and the issues around anti-Semitism."
- Unspun: the political diary
Mr Murray claimed both Mr Corbyn and Theresa May were "pandering to the extreme wings of their own parties".
He went on: "At some point, someone is going to have to stand up and do what is in the national interest and neither leader of any party at the moment is doing that; if our leaders can't stand up for our national interest, then they can't have our support."
The former Shadow Scottish Secretary added: "If my constituents start losing their jobs on the basis that the Labour Party has facilitated a hard Conservative Brexit, on the basis that they have refused to implement a democratically put-forward motion of Labour Party conference, then we will all have to make our own decisions about whether or not that is in the best interests of the party or the country."
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