Starmer's New-Found Love for Brexit Riles Up Labour Remainers
12:03 GMT 05.07.2022 (Updated: 15:20 GMT 28.05.2023)
© Aaron Chown
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Starmer's Damascene conversion to the Brexiteer cause was challenged by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, one of the favourites to replace the Labour leader if he fails to win the next election or is forced to honour his pledge to resign if he is fined over the 'Beergate' scandal.
Britain's opposition leader has reignited the row in his party over leaving the European Union (EU) by insisting he could fix problems in the withdrawal agreement.
Sir Keir Starmer declared his new-found support for Brexit on Monday evening in a speech to the pro-EU think tank the Centre for European Reform — which was long on platitudes but short on detail.
He said a future Labour government under his leadership would not apply to re-join either the bloc, its single market, customs union or free-movement area — a snub to both the Europhile and pro-immigration wings of his party.
Instead he claimed he would be able to succeed where Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has so far failed and negotiate changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol that has seen Brussels impose customs checks on goods moving between the British mainland and the exclave.
"We must sort out the Northern Ireland protocol. If you’re going to make Brexit work, that has to be the starting point," Starmer said.
He said he had spoken to businesspeople in Belfast and Dublin who said could "make it work" as "the solutions are there, the desire is there".
"What is lacking is trust," Starmer claimed, insisting that "Labour will change that" and "be the honest broker our countries need".
That echoed arguments by the current and previous Tory governments during talks with the European Commission on the protocol that there were technological means to avoid customs checks at the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland — which were dismissed out of hand by Brussels negotiators.
But Starmer's speech put him at odds with prominent Remainers inside and outside Labour.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said re-joining the EU single market would make the UK "more prosperous".
"Keir’s job is to be leader of the Labour Party, my job is to be the Mayor of London. That’ll mean on many occasions I agree with the Labour Party, on some occasions I may disagree," Khan said. "Londoners elected me to be their champion, their advocate. I believe that our city and our country’s future is best served being members of the Single Market."
Khan is one of the favourites to replace Starmer if he fails to win the next election or is forced to honour his pledge to resign if he is fined over the 'Beergate' scandal. The Durham Constabulary is set to announce the findings of its investigation this week.
Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, chairwoman of the pro-EU Labour Movement for Europe, said Starmer's speech "finally opens the door to a different future with Europe" and that Starmer should ensure "nothing is off the table".
"Labour must show it understands our national interest lies in working with, not shouting at, our European counterparts," Creasy tweeted.
The Green Party's sole MP Caroline Lucas, a constant critic of Brexit, accused Starmer of being "dishonest".
"You can't just 'make Brexit work'," Lucas tweeted, "when it’s clearly doing such damage. Pretending #Brexit can be positive is dishonest, plays into hands of Govt & undermines national interest. Instead, admit this is about damage limitation — don’t falsely claim to 'make it work'."
In June, Labour shadow minister for victims and youth justice Anna McMorrin told an online party meeting of her "hope" that the UK would re-join the single market in future.
22 June 2022, 12:38 GMT
'Starmer Sutra'
Appearing on GB News on Tuesday, Reclaim Party deputy leader Martin Daubney question the sincerity of Starmer's Damascene conversion to Brexit, saying the Labour leader had had "more positions than the Karma Sutra" on the issue.
Has Sir Keir Starmer taken more positions on Brexit than the Kama Sutra?! pic.twitter.com/SyE2Oa1A0q
— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 5, 2022
Left-wing media users pointed out that it was Starmer's call at the 2019 Labour conference to re-run the 2016 EU membership referendum that lost the party around 50 safe seats in the northern 'Red Wall' — which he was trying to woo back with his speech on Monday — and handed Johnson a landslide victory in the election two months later.
The very moment Dennis Skinner knew he would lose his seat in Parliament. Watch closely. pic.twitter.com/VCImhoXYjZ
— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) July 4, 2022
