Labour’s approach is to seek to de-dramatize the issue, focusing on the practical, rather than reopening old political wounds:
1) Regulation of the Northern Ireland Protocol
Boris Johnson’s government is on a warpath with the EU over the protocol, with controversial legislation going through the House of Commons that would not implement aspects of the deal the government signed in 2019. Labor says there is a “landing zone” in the negotiations between the two sides, however, which will include seeking a veterinary agreement to cover agricultural products, allowing many of the cumbersome controls to be lifted. For other goods, Labor says it will work with businesses in Northern Ireland to put in place a system of trusted traders to reduce the proportion of exports that must be subject to controls.
2) Cut red tape
Labor will seek to extend the new veterinary deal across the UK so that in addition to products from Great Britain sold in Northern Ireland, exports to the EU could also be subject to fewer controls. It will also seek to negotiate “mutual recognition of conformity assessments”, in some areas – so that companies only have to face one set of tests to show they meet the required standards in the UK and EU. Labor hopes this is negotiable because, Starmer says, his government has no intention of lowering standards – although it is unclear whether the EU will be persuaded. Theresa May sought a similar result but was willing to sign up to EU essential goods regulations as a professional quid quo. Labor will also seek new flexibility for people who want to work in the EU in the short term, such as musicians on tour.
3) Support services and scientists
Point three includes a set of technical changes aimed at making it easier for workers and companies to work and export in the EU. Starmer says Labor wants to negotiate mutual recognition of professional qualifications with the EU, for example, to allow UK professionals such as lawyers to practice in the EU more easily and vice versa. And Labor will seek access to cross-border scientific efforts such as Horizon, which British scientists currently lack access to because of the protocol row – the EU’s UK ambassador recently called this “collateral damage”.
4) Look for a security agreement
Former prime minister Theresa May used a speech in Munich in 2018 to express her hopes of negotiating a broad security pact with the EU, despite her determination to abandon the common foreign and security policy. When Boris Johnson took over the negotiations, he abandoned the idea, however, to focus primarily on trade and the key issue of the Northern Ireland border. Starmer argues that the current row over the protocol is hampering the UK’s ability to work with the EU on other issues, including security – and says Labor will try to strike a new deal. This would include working together on issues such as information and cyber security.
5) Invest in the UK
Point five, perhaps the least developed, is broadly about what the UK can do now to maximize the benefits of being outside the EU. Starmer says Labor will “use green investment and a commitment to buy, to make and sell in Britain to ensure we are best placed to compete on the world stage.” It also suggests the party will take a new approach to trade that would “put people, communities, rights and standards at its heart”, although it is unclear what this would mean in practice. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST
6) Failure to seek reintegration into the single market or restoration of free movement
Starmer’s plan has just five points, but almost its most striking element is what he says he won’t do – support the UK rejoining the single market or restoring free movement. As he says: “With Labour, Britain will not return to the EU. We will not join the single market. We will not join a customs union. We will not go back to freedom of movement to create short-term fixes.” Starmer spent much of the last parliament helping to drag Labor towards a second referendum policy and said during his leadership campaign that he would support free movement. But he now believes there is little electorally to be gained from revisiting the issue, and whatever the hopes of many in the party, he hopes, as he puts it, to “move on”.
