A SECOND referendum might be the only option left as Brexit negotiations seem to have reached an impasse.

That's the view of Carlisle scholar Stephen Gibbs, a lecturer in Global Leadership at the University of Huddersfield.

While he recognises there would be a great deal of reluctance in holding a second people's vote, Dr Gibbs said Theresa May's Brexit deal is unacceptable to Parliament and she has gone back to the EU to try and negotiate a deal that was already signed-off.

"She has recognised both she and her party are under considerable threat through this deal so she has put off making decisions and that's one of her great characteristics - the ability to fudge.

"After pulling the vote she's then gone to Brussels with a signed-off deal and said, 'I'd like to renegotiate the signed off deal'. There is no chance of her getting anywhere with the EU.

"She knows that the clock is ticking. She is trying to play down the clock until we get to the last moment of Brexit day, March 29, and at that point, typically the EU will strike a deal. They are in the habit of agreeing a deal at the last moment - that's usually how they work.

"The problem with that is she's still got to get it through the UK Parliament. Hard Brexiters would be happy to destroy this deal and go into the potential catastrophe of a no deal.

Dr Gibbs continued: "She can't get it through Parliament, she's facing a no deal, the very real likelihood and the only way to unblock the impasse is to go back and have a referendum - give the people the decision . She's left with no option.

"The deal she has struck means that we cannot create deals outside of European jurisdiction so we're coming out of Europe but we're staying in. We cannot strike world trade deals if we sign off her plan. That to me sounds a complete deadlock."

Dr Gibbs added that the challenge for the British people was that during the referendum, we didn't know what we were voting for. "We now have a clear understanding of the threats. If we get a no deal we are facing years of negotiating," he said.

"People now are looking at the reality we didn't know. We now know it means potentially a hard border in Northern Ireland, that seems unconscionable for the British who've spent all those years with that terrible war and the potential for conflict arising in Ireland is unconscionable so we might have to consider that people are given the choice."

Nevertheless, he says a lot is gong to happen in the coming weeks and a second referendum would be a long way off.

Culturally, Dr Gibbs explained it is not in our culture to keep holding referendums until we get the answer we want. "It would be a very reluctant country that would go back for another referendum," he said. "She's right, people have made a decision, and she 's trying to follow it through but she has offered a solution that is completely unacceptable to Parliament. We are in unknown territory."

Remainer Professor John Ashton, Cumbria's former director of Public Health, is in favour of a second vote, which he believes would be democratic.

"I think it would be a disaster for our young people if we leave the European Union, for peace in Europe and the NHS. It has got noting going for it at all," he said.

"This would be the third. The first referendum was in 1975 when we voted to stay in the European Union [then known as the European Economic Community] .

"We had the second referendum two years ago. It is clear that opinion has shifted. A big majority of younger people are in favour of staying. It's elderly people that voted out and the future is with young people. It looks now it would be about 60-40 to remain."