Long-Bailey and Nandy urge Labour to accept Brexit and move on

Shadow business secretary Long-Bailey and Wigan MP Nandy, who both represent Leave voting constituencies, said efforts should now be redirected into ensuring a good trade is struck with Brussels.

But shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry predicted the exit talks were unlikely to go smoothly and argued that Labour would need a Remain-backing leader who had been “on the right side of the argument all along”.

Long-Bailey told supporters at a hustings in Bristol that the party could not campaign at the next general election, expected in 2024, with the message of “we told you so” if the country’s economic fortunes took a dip after leaving the EU.

She admitted it was “sad” to see the UK’s divorce from Brussels finalised this week but said the “debate is over” on Brexit.

“We cannot spend the next four years waiting to tell our constituents we told you so and that we knew it was going to be this bad all along,” the 40-year-old urged.

The Salford and Eccles MP said Labour instead had to make sure Boris Johnson negotiated the “best possible trade deal” that could help “rebuild our communities”.

Nandy was critical of Labour’s reaction to the referendum outcome, accusing the leadership under Jeremy Corbyn of looking “backwards” after the result rather than “looking forward to the country we can be”.

“We completely missed the point of that political earthquake, which was a clamour for more power, more control and more agency across this country,” said the backbencher.

The former shadow energy secretary, who voted for the prime minister’s Withdrawal Agreement, admitted she had failed in her push for a Brexit deal that kept a close relationship with the EU.

Thornberry took an opposing view to her two female rivals and said she suspected the PM would not be successful in acquiring a trade agreement with Brussels, forecasting that the country would be “back in no-deal territory by the summer”.

“What do we do at that stage? We need to have someone leading the fight who was on the right side of the argument all along,” said the Islington South and Finsbury MP, who is the only contender not to have secured enough backing to advance to the final stage.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, one of the architects of Labour’s second referendum policy, said the divide between Leave and Remain voters must end, but accused the government of failing to address the “underlying reasons” why the electorate voted out before Friday’s historic moment.

It came as Nandy demanded that mention of “Empire” in the honours system is removed in order to create a more inclusive society.

The Order of the British Empire recognises contributions to the UK across the arts and sciences, charity, public service and the military.

Rallying for a re-brand, Nandy pointed to the example of poet Benjamin Zephaniah, who turned down an OBE in 2003 because it reminded him of “thousands of years of brutality” in Britain’s colonial past.

Nandy said she wants to replace it with the word “excellence”, to “celebrate those who built us” rather than “seek to alienate them”.

Saturday’s hustings at Ashton Gate Stadium was the second debate held by the four remaining contenders, after last weekend’s event was cancelled due to Sir Keir pausing his campaign following his mother-in-law’s admittance to intensive care.