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.