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Labour conference: 'Extensive' Brexit debate promised amid row Labour conference: Starmer claims 'grown-up' Brexit stance
(about 1 hour later)
Labour is not trying to ignore Brexit at its annual conference, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has insisted. The Labour leadership has insisted its approach to Brexit is "grown-up and pragmatic" as it faced opposition from some activists at its conference.
He told the BBC the leadership had "no control" over issues chosen by members to be voted on, which include housing, rail, the NHS and pay but not Europe. Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer said customs union and single market options should not be "swept off the table" at this stage.
But he said there would still be an "extensive" discussion on the subject as Labour tried to "build a consensus". He accused the Tories of "joyriding" the economy "off a cliff-edge".
The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg said pro-EU MPs were accusing the leadership of shirking a "full and bumpy" debate. But he faced claims that by not opposing Brexit Labour were letting the Tories "do what they want".
Labour members are discussing Brexit and international issues at the moment - with a succession of strongly argued speeches for and against the party's position on Brexit. Members in Brighton discussed Brexit for an hour on Monday morning amid a row over why more time was not being given to the issue after it was not chosen by delegates among eight policy motions for full debate.
But the focus is on approving Labour's existing policy and there will be no vote on contentious issues such as the future of single market membership. The focus of the session was about building agreement around Labour's existing policy and there will be no vote on contentious issues such as the future of single market membership.
Brexit was not chosen by local members and trade union members as one of the eight motions to be voted on in Brighton. But a number of Labour members criticised the party's pro-Brexit stance, suggesting they were giving the government a free ride.
The Jeremy Corbyn-supporting Momentum group had urged its members not to support a resolution on Brexit, emailing them with an alternative list of subjects to choose - including the Grenfell Tower tragedy, rail, growth and investment, workers' rights and social care. Cameron Clack, from Stamford and Grantham, said Labour had "voted away" its chance to keep the UK in the single market and customs union, telling activists we "will be remembered as the opposition that let the Tories to do what they want with Brexit".
Mr McDonnell said the choice of resolutions was up to party members but there would still be a "robust and thorough" debate on a Brexit statement from Labour's National Executive Committee and the terms of exit remained a "key issue" for the party. "We're supposed to be a party of outward-looking, internationalist, democratic socialists," he said.
But Sir Keir Starmer said that rather than laying down "rash ideological red lines" during the negotiations, Labour had settled on an agreed position which respected the result of last year's referendum but prioritised the economy and trade in exit talks.
Failing to reach any kind of deal with the EU was not a "viable option", warning that continued collaboration and co-operation was vital.
Analysis
By Laura Kuenssberg
What the shenanigans over a debate at Labour conference on the contentious issues around Brexit really shows us is who has the whip-hand now in the party.
The Corbyn-backing campaign group Momentum organised its members to choose subjects other than Brexit to be debated fully at the conference this week. It wasn't directly snuffed out by the leadership, it was a vote of delegates, but they act to protect their political hero.
Brexit is essentially the only big issue where Jeremy Corbyn is in conflict with the Labour membership. Motions that advocated membership of the single market or continuing freedom of movement clashed with the party's carefully constructed position on the EU and therefore would have given Corbyn's team a rough ride on the conference floor.
Read more
"Labour are now the grown-ups in the room," Mr Starmer said, insisting that "remaining in a form of customs union after a transition post-Brexit phase remained a "possible end destination" for the party.
"We are also flexible as to whether the benefits of the single market are best retained by negotiating a new single market relationship or working up from a bespoke trade deal," he added. "The outcome is what matters."
Labour has faced accusations it is downplaying the issue during its conference but shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Labour's front bench were "all pulling in the same direction" over Brexit.
Earlier, shadow chancellor John McDonnell insisted Labour was not trying to ignore the issue but the leadership had "no control" over issues chosen by members to be voted on, which include housing, rail, the NHS and pay but not Europe.
"The delegates choose their priorities and that is what they have done," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. "The leadership does not control that at all... the whole point of our party now is to hand our party back to the membership.""The delegates choose their priorities and that is what they have done," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. "The leadership does not control that at all... the whole point of our party now is to hand our party back to the membership."
He claimed that Labour, which backs remaining in the single market during a post-Brexit transitional phase but then wants to secure tariff-free access to EU markets afterwards, was the "only party" capable of uniting the country after the UK's exit. The Jeremy Corbyn-supporting Momentum group had urged its members not to support a resolution on Brexit, emailing them with an alternative list of subjects to choose - including the Grenfell Tower tragedy, rail, growth and investment, workers' rights and social care.
People were telling him that Labour had "to understand all the ramifications of the different options and then build consensus both in our the party but also the community itself".
He said a "consensus was emerging" that continued membership of the single market membership was not viable - given the obligations it placed on the UK to accept freedom of movement - but that a compromise might be possible to give UK firms equivalent access.
"Is there a way that reforms can take place that will enable us to have access to the single market? In that way, we can achieve a compromise within the community which gains us the benefits of the EU as it were and overcome some of the perceived disbenefits".
Several Labour MPs tweeted their displeasure at suggestions Brexit was being downplayed.Several Labour MPs tweeted their displeasure at suggestions Brexit was being downplayed.
Former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie said the outcome was "utterly ridiculous" and former culture secretary Ben Bradshaw tweeted: "Keeping #Brexit, biggest issue of our time, off our #lab17 agenda is silly and undermines the claim that we are listening to our members."
'Voted away'
Although Labour's ruling NEC will finalise an agreed statement on Brexit that delegates will be allowed to vote on in an attempt to defuse tensions, it will not commit the party to single market membership beyond the transition period.
The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg said that while minimising the opportunities for conflict might be seen as "politically clever", given the divisions in the party over Brexit, she said many MPs would find the situation "frustratingly vague".The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg said that while minimising the opportunities for conflict might be seen as "politically clever", given the divisions in the party over Brexit, she said many MPs would find the situation "frustratingly vague".
A number of Labour members criticised the party's backing for Brexit during Monday's debate. But Hove activist Darryl Telles said a Stop Brexit protest on the first day of conference was intended to "undermine" Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.
Cameron Clack, from Stamford and Grantham, said Labour had "voted away" its chance to keep the UK in the single market and customs union, telling activists "will be remembered as the opposition that let the Tories to do what they want with Brexit". "I remember the Monty Python sketch, the parrot is dead, it doesn't exist, it has ceased to exist. You have as much chance of stopping Brexit as Jeremy Corbyn has of wearing my Tottenham shirt."
"We're supposed to be a party of outward-looking, internationalist, democratic socialists." Although Labour's ruling NEC will finalise an agreed statement on Brexit that delegates will be allowed to vote on this afternoon in an attempt to defuse tensions, it will not commit the party to single market membership beyond the transition period.
But shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said, that unlike the Conservatives, Labour's front bench were "all pulling in the same direction" and their focus in the Brexit negotiations was on "three priorities... jobs, jobs and jobs".