Keir Starmer is set to outline Labour’s plan to improve Brexit with a focus on resolving Northern Ireland protocol issues, while insisting any return to the single market or customs union is completely out of the question.
In a further sign of the party’s renewed willingness to engage with a subject it has largely avoided under Starmer, the Labor leader will set out a plan to try to cut red tape on trade, vocational qualifications and other issues.
In a speech on Monday night to the Center for European Reform think tank, Starmer had to rule out any major changes, such as on membership of the single market or overturning Brexit, saying such a move would simply reignite disputes and cause division.
“In 2016, the British people voted for change. The very narrow question that was on the ballot – leave or stay in the EU – is now in the past,” he is expected to say, according to excerpts released in advance by Labour.
“But the hope that underpinned that vote, the desire for a better, fairer, more just future for our country, is no closer to being fulfilled.”
Arguing whether the UK should rejoin the EU would mean “looking back over our shoulder” and would threaten public faith in politics, Starmer said.
“So let me be very clear: with Labor Britain will not return to the EU. We will not join the single market. We will not join a customs union,” the speech said.
“The reason I say this is simple. Nothing about revisiting these disputes will help boost growth or reduce food prices, nor will it help British business thrive in today’s world. It would simply be a recipe for more division, distract us from taking on the challenges that people face and ensure that Britain remains stranded for another decade.
Detailing a plan first outlined by David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, on the sixth anniversary of the Brexit vote in June, Starmer said a key priority would be to improve trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK by removing most border checks.
This will be done through a new veterinary agreement for trade in agricultural products and a system for low-risk goods to enter Northern Ireland without checks.
Other proposals will include a scheme for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications with the EU and a new police and security agreement with Brussels.
While stressing that Labor does not want a return to freedom of movement, the plan will also include the idea of ”flexible labor mobility arrangements” for people making short-term business trips between the UK and the EU, as well as for musicians and artists who leave on tours.
Jenny Chapman, a Labor peer and shadow Brexit minister, said the plan was not an attempt to reverse Brexit. “I think that would be the last thing the country wants to see,” she told BBC Breakfast. “We’ve had so much division since 2016. I think the last thing Keir Starmer certainly wants to do is revisit any of that.
“But we think that the Conservatives, because they have this way of dealing with issues – which is ‘if we have to create a fight to win some political support in our party, we will do it’ – they are to take this approach to issues like Northern Ireland and we think that is irresponsible and we want to see these issues resolved.
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