UK’s Labour divided over whether to back new EU referendum

LONDON – It’s not just the British government that has problems over Brexit. The main opposition Labour Party is agonizing over whether to back a second EU membership referendum.

The left-of-centre party’s governing executive is meeting Tuesday to decide what to put in its platform for European parliamentary elections in just over just three weeks.

Many Labour members and lawmakers support a new referendum that could reverse voters’ 2016 decision to leave the EU. But leader Jeremy Corbyn fears that would cost Labour votes in pro-Brexit areas.

The issue is coming to a head because Britain looks set to participate in May 23 elections for the EU parliament. The U.K. was due to have left the bloc by now, but lawmakers have repeatedly rejected the government’s divorce deal with the EU.