Labour should have taken a stronger position on Brexit, argues Keir Starmer
Labour MP Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to King Pin Square housing development in Stevenage. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA Wire. - Credit: PA
The Labour Party 'should have taken a strong position' on Brexit, the shadow Brexit secretary and leadership contender Keir Starmer has claimed.
Starmer said that people wanted "clarity" on the issue, which the Labour Party did not provide, and that not enough was done by the party to "knock down" the Tories' Get Brexit Done message.
He added that, if he was to become Labour's new leader, he would deliver the "fundamental change" needed to deal with inequality across the country.
The shadow Brexit secretary is hoping that his Remain credentials does hold him back in the forthcoming leadership race.
While visiting Leave-voting Stevenage, Starmer claimed that the divide between Leave and Remain will go after January 31st.
You may also want to watch:
He told the PA news agency: "We are leaving the EU in two to three weeks time and that divide between Leave and Remain goes when we leave the EU.
"The next Labour leader needs to unite the Labour Party, provide really effective opposition to Boris Johnson and needs to be pulling together a strategy so that we can win in 2024.
Most Read
- 1 Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid reject Boris Johnson's coronavirus claim
- 2 Sky News presenter says Boris Johnson is 'gaslighting the nation' over Covid claims
- 3 Nigel Farage reminded of claim that 'acid test of Brexit' surrounds fishing after clip resurfaces
- 4 Pro-Brexit fishing campaigner says Boris Johnson's deal has left her with 'no fish'
- 5 Home Office launches voluntary repatriation scheme for EU nationals
- 6 PMQs: Boris Johnson calls for apology from Keir Starmer over coronavirus stances
- 7 Jeremy Corbyn loses bid to release Labour documents ahead of High Court battle
- 8 Brussels politician says Boris Johnson should 'pay for EU workers to stay' in UK
- 9 Boris Johnson is the 'worst PM' and should resign, says Alastair Campbell
- 10 European parliament agrees to add British overseas territories to post-Brexit tax haven blacklist
"That's what the next Labour needs to do, and that is what I'm determined to do on behalf of the Labour party. Not on my own, but as part of a team. We need people alongside me doing this."
He said he was visiting Hertfordshire town that voted 59% for Leave and has a Conservative MP was because it is "exactly the type of place" where Labour needs to win seats.
Discussing the problems with Labour's Brexit position, Sir Keir added: "I think clarity about what your position is and not being able to say well would you be Leave or Remain after a general election was a problem and I made that argument but I accepted the decision.
"I think people wanted clarity and they wanted leadership.
"People had bought the idea that if you vote Tory you'll get Brexit done and we didn't knock it down hard enough."
He also said the argument for a second referendum "blew away" with the election result and that the conversation must "move on" to the framework for future trade relations.
"We're going to leave the EU in the next few weeks."
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.