Half marks for Leonard on Labour’s six tests

Labour has six tests at the heart of its policy on Brexit – but Scottish leader Richard Leonard failed an examination when he struggled to name half of them in a television interview yesterday.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Leonard was twice asked whether he could list the requirements for Labour’s support at Westminster – but only managed three of them.

At the Liverpool conference, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer effectively confirmed the party would vote down the deal because it is certain to breach the six tests.

The guarantees include, close future collaboration with the EU, national security, fairmanagementofmigration, workplace and environmental protections, and the future of the Union, as well a crucial test based on David Davis’ promise to secure the “exact same benefits” as EU membership.

Asked if he could name the tests, Mr Leonard looked away and laughed before saying they were “around alignment with the single market, it’s about putting workers and environmental rights and protecting those, and protecting the position of Scotland, and other nationalandregionalinterests, and about how we’re aligned with the single market”.