Bitter pro-EU MPs criticised Labour members yesterday for failing to prioritise motions on Brexit for debate at the party conference.

Former shadow business secretary Chuka Ummuna, who is campaigning for Britain to retain permanent membership of the single market and customs union, took to Twitter to complain.

“I can’t believe no Brexit-related motion is being debated at #Lab17 tomorrow. We should not be ducking this debate, we should be leading it,” he wrote.

And Ben Bradshaw MP claimed: “Keeping #Brexit, biggest issue of our time, off our Lab17 agenda is silly and undermines the claim that we are listening to our members.”

Party members discussed Britain’s exit from the EU for an hour after shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer’s address to the conference.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell reminded them that it was for delegates to decide what to debate and they had chosen motions on housing, the railways, the NHS and pay.

He told BBC Radio 4: “The leadership does not control that at all … the whole point of our party now is to hand our party back to the membership.”