Blame Tory leaders for Brexit talks failure – Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer Brexit shadow secretary has blamed “wannabe Tory leaders” for the breakdown of cross-party talks as he renewed his call for a second referendum on leaving the EU.

The government and Labour sought to blame each other after talks to find a compromise Brexit plan collapsed on Friday, leaving any remaining hopes of an imminent solution to the impasse in tatters.

While both sides insisted the discussions had taken place in good faith, the prime minister said a key sticking point had been Labour splits over a second referendum, while the opposition said May’s imminent departure from Downing Street meant there was no guarantee any promises would be kept by her successor.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Starmer said: “The real problem was this question of how on earth do you future-proof any deal – if there was a deal – against an incoming Tory leader?. Because … the prime minister said before we started the talks that she would be going. It’s not for me to criticise that, that’s her judgment about when she wants to go.

“But it does mean that during the talks – almost literally – sitting in the room as we’re talking, cabinet members and wannabe Tory leaders were torpedoing the talks with remarks about not being willing to accept a customs union.”

He echoed the words of the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, last week that the negotiations were like “trying to contract with a company about to go into administration. There was a weakness because circling around those in the room trying to negotiate were others who didn’t want the negotiation to succeed because they had their eye on what was coming next.”

He said the situation put May “in a position where she was in reality too weak to deliver, in our judgment”.

Starmer said the government had to find a way to end the stalemate, and suggested: “They could seek to break the impasse by putting a confirmatory vote on the face of a bill.”

Starmer’s comments came as Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said May’s successor should not call a general election until Britain had left the EU.

He said an early poll could hand the keys of No 10 to the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and risk “killing Brexit altogether”.

He said it was essential the Conservatives delivered on the 2016 referendum result in the current parliament.

Source: The Guardian