Formation 13 May 2013 | ||
 | ||
Key people John Mills(Chairman)Brendan Chilton(Campaign Director) | ||
Labour for a Referendum (LfR) was a political campaign by members of the Labour Party that seeks a referendum in the United Kingdom on the European Union. The movement was set up following a pledge by the Conservative Party to hold an in–out vote if re-elected in United Kingdom general election, 2015. In the election campaign, Labour Party policy was that such a referendum would be an unnecessary distraction from government priorities. Following the Conservative victory in that election, the Labour Party committed to supporting passage of a Referendum Bill through Parliament – thus achieving the result sought by this campaign.
Contents
The campaign was chaired by JML chairman and Labour party donor John Mills, and directed by Dominic Moffitt, with party support from over 50 councillors, three council leaders and MPs including Kate Hoey, John McDonnell and Keith Vaz, the campaign aims to move the policy of the Labour Party to one which supports a referendum on membership of the EU, with the intention that this might help to secure a victory in the 2015 general election.
Former Northern Ireland spokesman Jim Dowd MP said: "I have been a supporter of this cause for many years and firmly believe the Labour Party must commit to a referendum before the European elections next year. As the Tories tear themselves apart over this issue, Labour for a Referendum provides the opportunity to unite the party on giving the people a say on our future in the EU."
Notable supporters
Since its launch in May 2013, it attracted support from a number of councillors, MPs and party activists.
Status following general election
As of 13 June 2015, the status of the group is unclear: the web site appears to be closed and more importantly, following the General Election in May 2015, the Labour Party has declared that it will support the Referendum Bill in Parliament, achieving the aim of the campaign.