Starmer’s cautious five-point plan to ‘make Brexit work’

Keir Starmer is delivering his latest instalment of Things Labour Would Just Do Better. In a speech to the Centre for European Reform this evening, the Labour leader is complaining that the government ‘have missed Brexit opportunities time and time again’. He will also set out his party’s ‘five point plan to make Brexit work’. His memorable lines are that Brexit has become the ‘wet wipe island’ that was found in the Thames and that Labour will ‘break that barrier down’ – which frankly sounds like a disgusting job for anyone to do.

Now, all of this initially seems to run along the general theme of Labour’s policymaking, which is to hope that saying you wouldn’t make the same mistakes as the government is a sufficient substitute for an actual policy position. In this case, there is some interesting positioning from Starmer, but it’s largely with a view to his Remain colleagues in his party rather than the wider public.

That he’s even talking about ‘Brexit opportunities’ will upset those who think it is impossible for even a competent government to make Brexit work. To that end, he will say that ‘you cannot move forward, or grow the country, or deliver change or win back the trust of those who have lost faith in politics if you’re constantly focused on the arguments of the past’. That means Britain not rejoining the EU, not joining the single market or a customs union.

What is also going to annoy some in his party who aren’t even particularly ardent remainers is his refusal to return to freedom of movement. Many of his MPs are anxious about the shortage of workers in key sectors including haulage and farming. But that doesn’t work with a lot of Labour voters, and so the line is: ‘We will not return to freedom of movement to create short-term fixes. Instead we will invest in our people and our places, and deliver on the promise our country has.’

The reason he’s doing this now is that Labour is starting to think about conference season – just over two months away. This isn’t a particularly high-profile speech, but what Starmer tells his party in the autumn will be. And there seems to be sufficient anxiety around the Brexit point for him to feel the need to start the framing early. The line about ‘our people and our places’ suggests that there’s going to be a lot more in Starmer’s big speech on identity and the left-behind communities that Labour needs to talk to again.

The five point plan that he does have is: 1. Sort out the Northern Ireland Protocol; 2. Tear down unnecessary trade barriers; 3. Support our world leading services and scientists; 4. Keep Britain safe; and 5. Invest in Britain. All very focus-grouped. All quite cautious. And even with the positioning against certain voices on his own side, all quite boring.