Remainers jeer at Sir Keir as no new vote on the horizon
SHADOW Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer was cat-called by frustrated Remain supporters when he defended Labour’s refusal to commit to a new referendum on the terms of the UK’s departure from the European Union.
Sir Keir was speaking at a Brexit Summit in Cardiff organised by Cardiff North Labour MP Anna McMorrin.
After setting out his party’s nuanced position on the kind of Brexit Labour favours the Shadow Cabinet member was challenged by Peter Price, a former pro-EU Tory MEP who is now a Liberal Democrat. Mr Price was applauded loudly when he asked Sir Keir: “Why does Labour contend that the British people took an irrevocable decision 20 months ago and argue only for reducing the amount of damage [caused by Brexit]? I make the point that in law, if one party induces a contract by misleading the other party, that contract is voidable, and likewise when you are buying a house you are not committed until the surveyor has delivered his report. Why shouldn’t we, the British people, have similar rights?”
Sir Keir was heckled by several members of the audience when he responded: “I completely reject the argument that those that voted to Leave were misled and hence stupid and not like the rest of us who really understood because we’re clever. That is the implication.”
He said such an approach was “deeply disrespectful and deeply resented by many millions of people who voted Leave”.
In his speech, Sir Keir said while he and many others had tried to persuade voters staying in the EU was the best way for the UK to have a prosperous future, their arguments had been narrowly defeated. While there were those who argued for a referendum on the final deal, it is unlikely that such a deal will have been achieved by the time the UK leaves the EU in March 2019. Instead, a final deal is likely to be negotiated during a transitional period that will start after we have left. At that stage, said Sir Keir, the debate would be about whether the UK could return to EU membership at a later date, without the contributions rebate it currently enjoys, having to swap the pound for the euro and being forced to join the “borderless” Schengen Area.
Explaining Labour’s current strategy – which has been criticised for effectively sitting on the fence – Sir Keir said the aim was to have a future trading relationship with the EU where it was as easy for businesses to sell their goods and services as it is now. He said the UK Government’s claim that it wanted to remain as a close trading partner with the EU after Brexit was incompatible with its insistence that it didn’t want to be bound by decisions of the European Court of Justice or belong to other European institutions.
Sir Keir said it had been a major victory before Christmas to secure a “meaningful” vote in Parliament on the terms of a Brexit deal. But it was important to ensure that easy access to the European Single Market and the customs union was one of the options.
Welsh Government Finance Minister Mark Drakeford told the summit that all kinds of Brexit would mean that Wales would not be as prosperous as it could be by remaining in the EU, but that keeping unfettered access to the single market and the customs union would mitigate the damage.
He said he was hopeful a crossparty alliance of peers could defeat the UK government’s attempt to grab powers that should be devolved to Wales and Scotland at the point of Brexit.
The summit also heard from Katherine Bennett, the senior vice-president of Airbus, which employs around 7,000 at its plant in Broughton, Flintshire. She said continuing uncertainty surrounding Brexit was forcing companies to plan for worst-case scenarios. A Brexit that entailed tariffs and non-tariff barriers would be damaging for Wales and the UK, she warned. She added that Airbus was fortunately not due to make further major investment decisions for another two years but the outlook was worrying. Ms Bennett told how in a conversation with her, Brexit Secretary David Davis had said that “Brexit wasn’t an economic decision”.