Why Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has got it wrong on Europe | Business Live
“With Mr Johnson now a discredited figure who has lost the electoral allure he once enjoyed, the main opposition party has an opportunity to offer a fresh approach that will cleanse British politics and inaugurate a new era based on honesty and integrity.
Unfortunately, however, it seems that Labour under Sir Keir Starmer is determined to forgo the chance to show true leadership by perpetuating the myth that it can “make Brexit work”.
Political leadership entails telling voters the truth – not shying away from it, as Sir Keir is doing with his new Brexit policy.
He made it clear in his speech that a Labour government would not seek to rejoin the single market or customs union – but instead would seek an improvement on the Tory Brexit which has created “a hulking ‘fatberg’ of red tape and bureaucracy – one that is hampering the flow of British business.”
Sir Keir added: “We will break that barrier down, unclog the arteries of our economy and allow trade to flourish once more.”
But the idea the EU is going to unpick the bureaucratic trading barriers it has in place with countries which are outside the single market and customs union, making an exception for the UK, is nonsensical.
It harks back to the “cakeism” of Tory negotiators with the EU who believed they could have the benefits of EU membership without having to pay for them.
Sir Keir knows that being out of the single market and customs union is very damaging to the British economy, but his advisers have told him that Leave voters in former “red wall” seats that Labour needs to win back will react badly if the freedom of EU citizens to work in the UK is restored.
Such advice flies in the face of polling evidence which suggests the attractiveness of Brexit has diminished.”
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Sir Keir is determined to forgo the chance to show true leadership by perpetuating the myth that it can “make Brexit work”. For as long as the current Westminster government remains in power, the UK remains stuck in a political era whose predominant tone is one of dishonesty. Opinion polls and …
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