By refusing to discuss rejoining the single market or the customs union, Labour can’t deal with the ‘fatberg’ of red tape
The Labour leader Keir Starmer has at last peeped from behind his policy curtain and squeaked that he can “make Brexit work”. No, no, don’t worry, he is not against it, heaven forbid. He would not even wink at the single market or the customs union. He is just against the ostracising of scientists, the persecuting of vets and the “hulking fatberg” of red tape.
Labour’s silence over Brexit has been a disgrace. The party leadership knew it was a mistake but its failure in 2018-19 to manipulate Tory disarray in the Commons under Theresa May ensured a “hard” rather than soft Brexit. Since then it has lived in fear of the third of Labour supporters who voted to leave, rendering it unable to exploit the gaping consequences of a hard Brexit for British trade, growth and cost of living. Exclusion from the single market, not Brexit, is what has hampered the UK’s recovery from the pandemic. Exclusion is what is crippling the pound and sending labour costs through the roof.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
