LABOUR party members have backed the party’s new Brexit policy, after a last minute U-turn allowed delegates at the annual conference to vote on it.
On Sunday, left-wingers convinced party members to vote against holding a vote on Brexit, infuriating MPs and the party’s pro-EU wing.
Yesterday, in a bid to stop a row from escalating, a policy paper on the EU was released that required the approval of conference.
However, the document published yesterday by Labour’s National Executive Committee made no mention of whether the UK should leave or stay in the single market.
The section of the one-and-a-half page statement dedicated to the UK’s future relationship with the EU merely says: “Labour is clear that we need tariff- and impediment-free trading relationship with the EU.
“Labour’s priority is an outcome that puts jobs, living standards and the economy first.
“The precise institutional form of the new trading and customs relationship needs to be determined by negotiation. Labour will not support any future arrangements that see the introduction of a hard border or which restricts free movement between Ireland and the UK.”
During his speech to the party faithful, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister would negotiate a deal “that retains the benefits of the customs union and the single market”.
He said: “Options for achieving that end should not be swept off the table.
“Subject, of course, to negotiations, remaining in a form of customs union with the EU is a possible end destination for Labour.
“We are also flexible as to whether the benefits of the single market are best retained by negotiating a new single market relationship, or by working up from a bespoke trade deal.
“The outcome is what matters.”
He said Labour would not have “no rash, ideological red lines preventing a sensible deal”.
He added: “No fantastical ‘blue sky’ proposals. A pragmatic approach.
“Labour are now the grown-ups in the room. We stand ready to take charge of the negotiations. Not acting for narrow political gain, but in the national interest.”
Labour’s Chuka Umunna, a former shadow cabinet minister, welcomed Starmer’s words, and said continued membership of the customs union was “a potentially important shift in the party’s position”.
He added: “It is now even more vital that as we go forward we put clear red water between the Labour Party and the government on Brexit.
“For me and many others, that means committing to full and permanent membership of the single market and customs union. We will continue to make this argument.”
SNP MSP Tom Arthur tweeted: “Beyond the tired and hypocritical flat-cap-claptrap, Labour’s position on Brexit is indistinguishable from that of the Tories”.
Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:“most firms do not believe that either Labour or the Conservatives have a clear and agreed Brexit policy.”
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