Labour party proposes ‘soft’ Brexit

EDINBURGH: Britain’s main opposition Labour Party is announcing a policy shift which opens the possibility of the country remaining in the European Union’s (EU) single market and customs union for several years as part of a “soft” Brexit, a spokesman said on Saturday.

The party would propose the same “basic terms” as Britain’s current relationship with EU during a transition period following Brexit in 2019, and for all options to be open, said the Labour spokesman.

He was confirming a report in Britain’s Guardian in which shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer backed “continued membership of the EU single market beyond March 2019” in an attempt to offer an alternative to the Brexit proposed by Theresa May’s Conservative government.

After months of uncertainty and division on Labour’s position, this new offer is aimed at providing a springboard for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to potentially defeat the Conservatives at election.

“We will always put jobs and the economy first,” Starmer said.

“That means remaining in a form of customs union with the EU is a possible end destination for Labour, but that must be subject to negotiations. It also means that Labour is flexible as to whether 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 EU should not “drag its feet” in negotiating Brexit, a British government source said yesterday ahead of a fresh round of UK-EU divorce talks in Brussels this week.

“Both sides must be flexible and willing to compromise when it comes to solving areas where we disagree. As EU has said, the clock is ticking, so neither side should drag its feet,” the source said.

The Brexit Ministry also called for the European Commission to be “more flexible”, as British negotiators push for talks on future trade ties alongside the divorce.

“Conversations about our exit and the future partnership we want with EU are inextricably linked,” the ministry said.

But EU said there must first be “sufficient progress” on three issues — the status of EU nationals in Britain, the bill for the divorce and the future of Northern Ireland’s border with the Irish republic.

An EU official said on Friday that it was “unlikely” there would be “major steps” in the coming days of talks. Agencies