JEREMY Corbyn is under pressure to u-turn on Labour’s approach to Brexit.

The TUC and some party members are lobbying hard for permanent membership of the single market and the customs union.

This is despite the fact Labour campaigned to “respect the referendum result” and leave the institutions of the EU during the general election.

The challenge for pro-Remain MPs is that they are in denial about what realistically the Labour Party leadership can sign up to.

Ideas doing the rounds include the notion that people can change their minds in a democracy, or that there should be a second referendum on the terms of Brexit.

The challenge with the former, as the academic Matthew Goodwin has noted, is that voters are becoming more entrenched than ever about the decision they took in June 2016.

There’s no sign of a major shift in the polls that would give the opposition the confidence to call for another vote.

The trickier issue is what would people actually be voting on?

We won’t know the terms of the future trade relationship until after we’ve formally left the EU in March 2019.

Two years of transition will largely preserve the status quo. In practice, that means Brexit is inevitable and if pro-Remain forces wish to continue the campaign it will soon become apparent that the only show in town is Article 49 – re-joining the EU.

The Labour leadership therefore is right to stick to its democratic principles and deliver on the will of the British people.

Labour city councillor Tom Bewick