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Brexit: Labour too divided to back Norway-style deal, says Starmer Brexit: Labour too divided to back Norway-style deal, says Starmer
(about 5 hours later)
Keir Starmer has hit back at claims Labour will squander the chance to defeat the government over an amendment to keep the UK in a Norway-style deal after Brexit, saying his party was too divided to back it. Keir Starmer has reacted to claims that Labour would squander the chance to defeat the government over an amendment to keep the UK in a Norway-style deal after Brexit, saying his party was too divided to back it.
Labour’s frontbench has announced a new amendment to the EU withdrawal bill, which returns to the Commons next week, proposing “full access to the internal market of the European Union”. Labour sources suggested dozens of Labour MPs in leave-backing seats were warning that they were prepared to rebel if the party leadership decided to back a Lords amendment to keep the UK in the European Economic Area when the EU withdrawal bill returns to the Commons next week.
However, the new amendment stops short of calling for the full single market membership sought by a vocal group of Labour MPs, after the Lords backed a Norway-style membership of the European Economic Area (EEA). In private conversations some shadow ministers are understood to have said they might be prepared to rebel should Labour decide to whip in favour, presenting enough opposition to cancel out the number of Tory rebels.
The move was heralded by some as a significant shift by the Labour leadership towards a softer Brexit position, though several pro-EU Labour MPs said it would throw away the potential to defeat the government on the EEA amendment. Instead, Labour’s frontbench announced a new amendment to the EU withdrawal bill, proposing “full access to the internal market of the European Union”.
Pro-EU Conservative rebels are highly unlikely to back a Labour frontbench amendment, as opposed to a cross-party amendment led by backbenchers. The new amendment stops short of calling for the full single market membership sought by a vocal group of Labour MPs.
Starmer said Labour MPs such as Chris Leslie and Chuka Umunna who backed the EEA amendment were well aware “it does not command support in their own party”. Several pro-EU Labour MPs said it would throw away the potential to defeat the government on the EEA amendment because pro-EU Conservative rebels were highly unlikely to back a Labour frontbench amendment, as opposed to a cross-party amendment led by backbenchers.
In a tense meeting of backbench MPs a fortnight ago, several Labour MPs from leave-voting seats, including John Mann, Caroline Flint and John Spellar, made it clear they were opposed to Labour giving the EEA option its backing. Starmer said there was no prospect of government defeat, because of the depth of the divide in the Labour party. He said MPs such as Chris Leslie and Chuka Umunna who backed the EEA amendment were well aware “it does not command support in their own party”.
“I have been talking to colleagues for the last two or three weeks to try and gauge the views and I wish I could report we had complete unity on all amendments but we are not in that position,” Starmer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. In a tense meeting of backbench MPs a fortnight ago several Labour MPs from leave-voting seats, including John Mann, Caroline Flint and John Spellar, made it clear they were opposed to Labour giving the EEA option its backing.
“They know as well as I do that their own colleagues in the party are indicating they are not prepared to vote for this. The only way we can win a vote is if we all vote together at the same time; that’s the only way we can defeat the government.” “I have been talking to colleagues for the last two or three weeks to try and gauge the views and I wish I could report we had complete unity on all amendments but we are not in that position,” Starmer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “They know as well as I do that their own colleagues in the party are indicating they are not prepared to vote for this. The only way we can win a vote is if we all vote together at the same time; that’s the only way we can defeat the government.”
In a coded warning to pro-EU Labour MPs, Starmer said there were “very divided views” in the party about a Norway-style model and he was “injecting some honesty about where we are in the party”.In a coded warning to pro-EU Labour MPs, Starmer said there were “very divided views” in the party about a Norway-style model and he was “injecting some honesty about where we are in the party”.
“The pretence that everyone in the Labour party is in the same place on this, and therefore it is winnable, is a pretence and it really doesn’t help,” he said.“The pretence that everyone in the Labour party is in the same place on this, and therefore it is winnable, is a pretence and it really doesn’t help,” he said.
Starmer said Labour would have a “catalogue of victories” on other Lords amendments to the EU withdrawal bill that will be considered by the House of Commons next Tuesday. Starmer said Labour would have a “catalogue of victories” on other Lords amendments to the EU withdrawal bill that will be considered by the Commons next Tuesday. “I actually think the government will have to concede in the face of the challenge,” he said.
“I actually think the government will have to concede in the face of the challenge,” he said. Starmer called Labour’s new amendment “a very strong and significant statement of policy” and said it was “essentially tying together the single market and customs union as a strong economic package, which I think will be welcomed by businesses and trade unions”.
Starmer called Labour’s new amendment “a very strong and significant statement of policy” and said it was “essentially tying together the single market and customs union as a strong economic package which I think will be welcomed by businesses and trade unions”. EU negotiators have repeatedly made it clear there can be no cherry picking or division of the four freedoms of the single market, including the free movement of people.
EU negotiators have repeatedly made it clear there can be no cherry picking or division of the four freedoms of the single market, including free movement of people.
Starmer said Brussels had indicated to him that if the UK cleared away some of its red lines on issues such as the European court of justice, it could open the door to a different tone of negotiations.Starmer said Brussels had indicated to him that if the UK cleared away some of its red lines on issues such as the European court of justice, it could open the door to a different tone of negotiations.
“If the red lines change, there is a different negotiation to be had. In my discussions with them ... it is clear that what they mean by that is: if we signal we want a close economic relationship then there is a conversation and negotiation to be had and it will involve some of the tools in the Norway-style toolbox,” he said. “We should have that before giving up on it.” “If the red lines change, there is a different negotiation to be had. In my discussions with them … it is clear that what they mean by that is: if we signal we want a close economic relationship then there is a conversation and negotiation to be had and it will involve some of the tools in the Norway-style toolbox,” he said. “We should have that before giving up on it.”
The pro-remain Conservative MP Anna Soubry said Tory rebels would not swing behind the new Labour proposal. “If you read the Labour amendment, you might think it had been crafted by Boris Johnson because it is perfectly representative of the cake-and-eat-it position of Her Majesty’s government,” she told an Open Britain event.
Umunna said he did not accept Starmer’s argument that there was not enough backbench Labour support for the full-EEA option. “The idea that there is insufficient Conservative support for the cross-party amendment is nonsense. Nor do I accept there is insufficient support in the parliamentary Labour party,” he said. “If the frontbench think EEA membership isn’t good enough at least adopt it as a starting point. A bespoke deal would take at least another three to four years by which time not only will we have left the EU, but the transition period would also have expired.”
BrexitBrexit
LabourLabour
Keir StarmerKeir Starmer
Article 50Article 50
European UnionEuropean Union
House of CommonsHouse of Commons
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