A DEFEATED East Lancashire Labour candidate from May’s general election has urged his party’s supporters to resist letting tribalism undermine attempts to win the in-out referendum on the EU.

Will Straw, executive director of cross-party The In Campaign, told a fringe event at the party’s annual Autumn conference in Brighton that it was vital to share a platform with political rivals, including the Conservative Party.

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Mr Straw, son of Blackburn’s former MP Jack Straw, was defeated by Rossendale and Darwen incumbent Jake Berry in the general election earlier this year.

A month after his defeat he was handed his current role and has previously maintained a pro-EU stance despite supporting the idea of an EU referendum.

Mr Straw was speaking at the event on Sunday night and said it would be a ‘huge challenge’ to persuade the country to vote to stay in the EU, in the referendum Prime Minister David Cameron has promised before 2018.

During the speech he said: “The TV debates and national conversation will be directed towards David Cameron and George Osborne.

“It’ll be our job to make sure they understand the arguments we think work best.

“It’s also important for people from other parties that they don’t let that put them off.

“We mustn’t let that tribalism get in the way of what is a much bigger and more important question.”

Mr Straw added that his view on the EU was partly formed through talking to residents in the Rossendale and Darwen constituency in the run-up to the election.

He also said his focus was now on the referendum campaign and would not be drawn on whether he would be standing as a candidate in any by-election over the next five years.

He said: “Britain draws a lot of strengths from being part of the EU and issues such as terrorism, cross-boarder crime and climate change are best discussed at a European level. The EU helps to secure jobs in this country and offers numerous benefits which would all be put at risk if we were to leave.”