Britain's opposition Labour Party prefers a new election to a second referendum on Brexit, its leader said Sunday, heaping pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May whose plans for a divorce deal with the European Union have hit an impasse.

Labour's Jeremy Corbyn has so far resisted calls to back a "people's vote," or new referendum on the decision to quit the EU. But the political landscape has changed since May was ambushed by the EU on Thursday over her plans for Brexit — the biggest shift in British policy for almost half a century.

With talk of a new election swirling after May's "Chequers" plan was all but shredded at an EU summit in Austria last week and chances of Britain exiting the bloc without a deal rising, Labour is under pressure to start setting the Brexit agenda.