Starmer used a speech on Monday night to denounce the “mess” created by Brexit and its aftermath and set out a five-point plan to deal with the economic pain, while refusing to overturn the decision. A different government could “make Brexit work”, he argued. Since becoming opposition leader two years ago, Starmer has accepted that the UK would leave the EU, but Monday’s speech marks a change of tack that includes a more critical stance towards Johnson’s deal. “Given that 45 per cent of people think Brexit is going badly, while 27 per cent think it is going well – and yet most people still stand by their decision to vote from 2016 – this seems a realistic place to where Starmer is,” said Ben Page. , chief executive of pollster Ipsos. As shadow Brexit secretary under former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer championed a second Brexit referendum, a policy that contributed to the loss of many “Red Wall” seats in the party’s heartlands. Running scared for the Tories and mutating into a pale imitation of Boris Johnson, Starmer offers no real change Now he is determined to rule out any talk of a Labor government returning Britain to the EU. “Keir Starmer has strengthened the case for independence by embracing the Tories’ hard Brexit,” said Ian Blackford, leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster, which is campaigning for an independent Scotland to rejoin the EU. the Tories and mutate into a pale imitation of Boris Johnson, Starmer offers no real change.” Stella Creasy, chair of Labor for Europe, said the speech “finally opens the door” to a different future with Europe. “We urge Keir to make sure nothing is off the table as a solution to the fight to tackle the cost of living crisis and protect jobs, trade and security,” he said. Starmer said a Labor government would try to negotiate the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, strike a veterinary deal, make it easier for artists to make short visits to the continent, align data sufficiency rules and keep Britain in science programmes. EU, such as the flagship €95 billion Project Horizon. European governments responded positively to Starmer’s ideas, while acknowledging that he was unlikely to be in power for long. “There are positive things there, but it’s all a balance of rights and obligations and it depends on what obligations the UK is willing to agree to in exchange for rights,” said one diplomat. The dispute over the implementation of post-Brexit trade deals in Northern Ireland has poisoned relations between the EU and the UK. Boris Johnson’s government has tabled legislation it says will “fix” problems in the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, giving ministers powers in domestic law to unilaterally override the Brexit treaty with the EU. Brussels has in turn threatened a potential trade war. The standoff over the protocol has put the rest of the EU-UK economic relationship in a diplomatic deep freeze and blocked the UK’s participation in Horizon.

But a European Commission official said if London cooperated on the protocol, there was the potential, as Starmer suggested, to open up Horizon, streamline trade and make it easier for artists and athletes to make short trips to Europe. Starmer has also promised to pursue a “mutual recognition of professional qualifications” deal with Brussels, which he claims will ensure UK professional services firms can compete in the EU. The UK-EU Trade and Partnership Agreement contains a framework for further discussion on the mutual recognition of qualifications, but little progress has been made. There has been strong resistance from some EU countries over fears that British lawyers, accountants and architects will acquire businesses in the bloc, the Commission official said. “It’s very political. Member States would be worried.” Catherine Barnard, a professor of EU law at Cambridge University, pointed out that the EU-Canada free trade agreement, which contained a similar framework for services, had demonstrated the limitations of such agreements. “Canada only managed one agreement, for architects, and it took nine rounds of talks,” he said.

Work in Scotland

Labor also clarified its position on Scotland on Monday. Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labor leader, said the party would not do any deal with the Scottish National Party in the event of a hung parliament at Westminster. Boris Johnson, the Conservative prime minister, has claimed Labor will be forced to form a coalition with the SNP if it is the largest party but falls short of a majority after the next election. “All this nonsense about deals is straight out of Trump’s playbook of fake news,” Sarwar said in a speech in London. “Let me make one thing clear today. . . regardless of the outcome of the next UK general election, Labor will not do any deal with the SNP.”