Sir Keir Starmer insists UK will not be a ‘rule-taker’ after backlash over stance on EU
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he will not allow the UK to become a “rule-taker” after his comments suggesting he did not want to diverge from EU rules sparked criticism.
The Labour leader immediately rejected suggestions from the Conservatives that he wanted to take the UK back into the EU, telling reporters: “There is no case for going back into the EU, and that includes the single market and customs union.”
“Equally, we will not be a rule-taker,” he continued. “The rules and laws of this country will be made in parliament according to the national interest.”
However, he added: “But that does not mean that a Labour government wants to lower standards on food, wants to lower standards on people’s rights at work.
“The Labour Party has been completely consistent on those issues for many many years – there is no surprise here. Incidentally, this is also government policy.”
His remarks come after the Labour leader declared “we don’t want to diverge” from EU rules in footage of a conference of centre-left leaders in Canada seen by Sky News.
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Sir Keir argued Britain’s relationship with the EU could be much stronger, while still remaining outside the bloc and outside the single market, “the more we share a future together”.
The comments have triggered a fresh discussion over how Labour would approach Brexit, with the Tories immediately seizing the opportunity to accuse Sir Keir of wanting to take the UK back into the EU.
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said the remarks had shown “the real Keir Starmer” and claimed the Labour leader wanted to “return us into the EU” and “re-run the Brexit agonies of the past”.
Earlier on Friday, a Labour frontbencher told Sky News there would “clearly be ways” in which the UK does diverge from the EU, including through individual trade deals.
James Murray, Labour’s shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, said his party had been “very clear throughout” about any “red lines” there would be with the EU post-Brexit.
He said “we don’t want to be in the single market, we don’t want to be in a customs union, we don’t want to bring back freedom of movement – but we do want a better trading relationship”.
Mr Murray hit back at the criticism from the Conservatives and said they had “no plan to make Brexit work”.
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Mark Spencer accused Sir Keir of ‘another flip flop’.
Asked how the UK could maximise the advantage of Brexit if it did not diverge from EU rules, Mr Murray told Sky News: “Well, there will clearly be ways in which we do diverge in terms of striking our own trade deals with other countries and so on.
“But the conversation that we’re having today is focused on UK standards and I think what Keir was saying is we have no interest in weakening or watering down UK standards when it comes to things like food standards, consumer protection, workers rights and so on.”
His remarks were echoed by London mayor Sadiq Khan, who said Sir Keir is “right to say, ‘look, the current deal we have with the European Union has got big problems in it’. Some characterise it – I would – as an extreme, hard Brexit deal.”
He said it’s “right” that Sir Keir would seek to “look into having a better deal” when the current deal, negotiated by Boris Johnson, is up for review in 2025.
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Mr Murray said there would still be areas where a Labour government would diverge from Brussels, for example by striking trade deals around the world.
He added: “All we’re seeing under the Conservatives is extra red tape on businesses, which means that it’s impacting on economic growth, which means it’s deepening the cost-of-living crisis.”
Sir Keir’s statement was made just days after he was forced to shut down speculation he might join an EU quota system on migrants after he said he would talk to the bloc about a returns deal – prompting the Conservatives to brand him “Mr Open Borders”.
His statement on Saturday evening came in response to a question from John McTernan, a former aide to Sir Tony Blair, at a conference for progressive leaders in Montreal.
Sir Keir said: “Most of the conflict with the UK being outside of the EU arises in so far as the UK wants to diverge and do different things to the rest of our EU partners.
“Obviously the more we share values, the more we share a future together, the less the conflict. And actually different ways of solving problems become available.
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“Actually we don’t want to diverge, we don’t want to lower standards, we don’t want to rip up environmental standards, working standards for people that work, food standards and all the rest of it.
“So suddenly, you’re in a space where, notwithstanding the obvious fact that we’re outside the EU and not in the [European Economic Area], there’s a lot more common ground than you might think.”
A Labour spokesperson said following the remarks that the UK had “left the European Union and we’re not going back in any form”.
“Any decisions on what standards we follow will be made in the UK parliament,” they added.
“The Tories have not used Brexit to diverge on food, environmental or labour standards and if they have a plan to do so then they should come clean with people.”
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Harriet Harman has suggested a “mini inquiry” into issues raised by the grooming gangs scandal and called on Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch to discuss “terms of reference”.
The Labour peer told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that there should “openness” to a future probe as long it does not repeat the previous investigations.
In particular, she said people need to be “trained and confident” that they can take on matters “which are in particular communities” without being accused of being racist.
“I think that whether it’s a task force, whether it’s more action plans, whether it’s a a mini inquiry on this, this is something that we need to develop resilience in,” Ms Harman said.
The grooming gangs scandal is back in the spotlight after Elon Musk hit out at the Labour government for rejecting a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, saying this should be done at a local level instead.
The Tories also previously said an Oldham inquiry should be done locally and in 2015 commissioned a seven-year national inquiry into child sex abuse, led by Professor Alexis Jay, which looked at grooming gangs.
However, they didn’t implement any of its recommendations while in office – and Sir Keir has vowed to do so instead of launching a fresh investigation into the subject.
Ms Harman said she agreed with ministers that there is “no point” in a rerun of the £200m Jay Review, which came on top of a number of locally-led inquiries.
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However, she said there’s “always got to be an openness to further analysis, further consideration of what proposals would move things forward”.
She called on the Conservative Party to start “sensibly discussing with the government what should be the parameters of a future inquiry”, as they “can’t really be arguing they want an absolute repeat of the seven years and £200 million of the Jay inquiry”.
She said the Tories should set out their “terms of reference”, so “the government and everybody can discuss whether or not they’ve already got that sorted”.
Girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped across a number of towns in England – including Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford – over a decade ago in a national scandal that was exposed in 2013.
In many cases the victims were white and the perpetrators of south Asian descent – with the local inquiry into Telford finding that exploitation was ignored because of unease about race.
The Jay review did not assess whether ethnicity was a factor in grooming gangs due to poor data, and recommended the compilation of a national core data base on child sex abuse which records the ethnicity of the victim and alleged perpetrator.
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Ms Harman’s comments come after the Labour Metro Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said he believed there was a case for a new “limited national inquiry”.
He told the BBC that a defeated Tory vote on the matter was “opportunism”, but a new probe could “compel people to give evidence who then may have charges to answer and be held to account”.
Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister who has born the brunt of Mr Musk’s attacks, has told Sky News “nothing is off the table” when it comes to a new inquiry – but she will “listen to victims” and not the world’s richest man.
Sir Keir has said he spoke to victims this week and they do not want another inquiry as it would delay the implementations of the Jay review – though his spokesman later indicated one could take place if those affected call for it.
Tory leader Ms Badenoch has argued that the public will start to “worry about a cover-up” if the prime minister resists calls for a national inquiry, and said no one has yet “joined up the dots” on grooming.
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