LABOUR'S Warrington South parliamentary candidate Faisal Rashid has reaffirmed he would back Remain in a second EU referendum.

The politician, who is hoping to retain the seat, is in high spirits ahead of the general election on December 12.

He said: “This is a once in a generation opportunity to reunite and rebuild our country and I’ve been taking this message out at the doorsteps across my constituency and I can see a very positive response from constituents.”

In relation to Brexit, Mr Rashid is confident Labour would renegotiate a ‘better deal’ compared to the Prime Minister’s deal, before putting it back to the people in a second vote.

“What we are saying is that within the first six months we are going to resolve Brexit,” he said.

“First three months we have already spoken to the European Union, renegotiated the deal, which will be a lot better deal than we have seen two deals in the past.

“And then put it back to the people and I will campaign to Remain in that referendum.

“But we need to put some perspective into Brexit as well, Labour has never been part of any negotiation with the European Union.”

Mr Rashid was also questioned on whether he would press the Labour-run council to reduce the number of homes proposed for green belt land in the emerging local plan.

He said: “This is a very important issue for my constituency and I’ve been a big advocate of opposing to build in green belt.

“Make no mistake, this is part of the national planning policy framework (NPPF), which is put forward by central Government to the councils.

“The housing target is set by that NPPF, so what happens then, the council have to deliver that.

“But what I am campaigning for is, of course, we need to have a brownfield site first approach, absolutely crucial.

“I have supported town centre living because we need to regenerate the whole town centre, which is happening at the moment.

“It is a great opportunity to have a Labour government and revisit this NPPF and then bring down all the numbers and how the methodology works as well and then promote a brownfield site first (approach).”

Mr Rashid added that he supported the proposed £212.7 million Western Link road because he believes the town needs a new high-level crossing.

But he says he will continue to object to Port Warrington.

Furthermore, Mr Rashid said the Liberal Democrats have ‘no chance’ in Warrington South and labelled the battle for the seat as a ‘two-horse race’ between Labour and the Tories.

Across the town in Warrington North, Labour’s parliamentary candidate Charlotte Nichols has also been asked to confirm her position, in the scenario where Labour wins the election and negotiates a new deal before putting it back to the people in another vote.

She added: “I hope to be able to support a credible Labour deal – this is of course pending the outcome of negotiations which are yet to start.

“I want to resolve the issue of Brexit and move forward as a country.

“I believe that Labour’s position on Brexit reflects the broad view of the country, unlike the extreme positions of the Liberal Democrats who would just ignore the vote, or the hard right Conservative Party who would be happy to drive our economy off a cliff.”

Campaign group Warrington 4 Brexit had called for the two Labour parliamentary candidates to ‘clarify’ their position.

It said Warrington voters have been left confused by the party’s stance.