Brexit: British Labour looks for ‘new European single market’

Labour has called for Britain to join "a new European single market" after Brexit with full access to the European Union's internal market. The party has tabled an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill, which returns to the House of Commons next week, that would make such an arrangement one of the government's negotiating objectives.

“Labour will only accept a Brexit deal that delivers the benefits of the single market and protects jobs and living standards. Unlike the Tories, Labour will not sacrifice jobs and the economy in the pursuit of a reckless and extreme interpretation of the referendum result,” the party’s shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said.

The move represents a further shift in Labour policy towards a soft Brexit, following its call for Britain to remain in a customs union with the EU. Jeremy Corbyn said on Tuesday that Britain should still be allowed to negotiate new trade deals after Brexit and he rejected as unsuitable Norway’s model of membership of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Party leadership

The amendment appears to be aimed at limiting the number of Labour MPs who will back an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill which would keep Britain in the EEA after Brexit. The party leadership supports some of the amendments approved by the House of Lords but the new amendment falls short of calling for EEA membership.

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“It shall be a negotiating objective of Her Majesty’s Government to ensure the United Kingdom has full access to the internal market of the European Union, underpinned by shared institutions and regulations, with no new impediments to trade and common rights, standards and protections at a minimum,” the amendment says.

Theresa May’s government risks defeat on a number of amendments to the Bill, which will be debated and voted on in a single, 12-hour session next Tuesday. Among the amendments passed by the Lords which are attracting support among Remainers on the Conservative backbenches are one on the customs union and another which would allow MPs to reject a “no deal” Brexit.

Tougher action

Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown called on Tuesday for tougher action on immigration within the rules of the EU and the single market in an effort to address some of the concerns that produced the Brexit vote.

“The Brexit vote was the biggest revolt against the political establishment of our country – and the commercial, industrial, financial and cultural establishment. Something as seismic cannot be dismissed as false consciousness on the part of a poorly-informed electorate: we have to accept that was a genuine expression of people’s anxieties about the future,” he said.

“The vote sent a powerful message that globalisation is not working for British citizens and this is reflected in economic discontent about wage stagnation and the prospects for young people, and in cultural pessimism – a sense that ‘the country is not what it was’ and has ‘changed out of all recognition’ – as well as an anti-politics sentiment.”