Starmer rebukes Khan as he says there is no case for rejoining EU

THERE is “no case” for Britain rejoining the single market, Sir Keir Starmer has said in a rebuke to the Mayor of London.

The Labour leader dismissed calls from within his own party to return to pre-brexit economic arrangements as he attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Sadiq Khan used a speech last week to call for a “pragmatic debate about the benefits of being a part of the customs union and the single market”.

But Sir Keir told BBC Newsnight: “We would accept that the deal that [Boris] Johnson got is not a good deal, and you can see the impact it is having on our economy.

“And that is why we have been clear we want a closer relationship with the EU. That starts with the Protocol in Northern Ireland. It then goes into a discussion about how close we can be.

“We can’t go back into the EU. There isn’t a political case for going back into the EU or the single market. But I am having discussions about what a closer trading relationship might look like.”

It is not the first time Sir Keir has dismissed calls to re-enter the trading arrangement, having vowed to “make Brexit work” in an attempt to win back Red Wall voters, the majority of whom voted for Brexit, who deserted Labour for the Tories at the last election.

Earlier this month, Sir Keir promised a Labour government would introduce a “take back control bill”, echoing the language used by the Leave campaign at the referendum, with a view to transferring more powers from Westminster to local communities across the country.

He has also pledged to “make Brexit work” without reopening negotiations on the UK’S trade deal. Instead, Labour would negotiate a new security pact with Brussels and implement measures that it says would ease tensions created by checks required by the Northern Ireland Protocol.

However, a number of Labour figures have continued to call for a materially closer relationship with Brussels. Mr Khan said in his remarks to business leaders at Mansion House that “Brexit isn’t working”, and claimed “a shift from this extreme, hard Brexit” would help to improve Britain’s economic outlook.

The mayor acknowledged the public did not have the appetite for “a return to the division and deadlock” of the years between voting to leave the EU and Brexit day on Jan 31, 2020, but said it had detrimental effects “at a time when we can least afford it”.

The average level of support for staying out of the EU fell below 45 per cent for the first time in October, amid concerns that the Government has failed to make the most of Brexit opportunities.

‘The deal that Boris Johnson got is not a good deal and you can see its impact on our economy’