LABOUR’S Brexit boss Sir Keir Starmer endured a car crash interview with a muddled message on whether his party backs Leave or Remain.
As Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepared to set out the Tories’ strategy with a clear thumbs-up from No10, Sir Keir could only stumble over his own stance.
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His cringeworthy quiz on live TV came as his party pledged to renegotiate the Brexit deal in just three months — then put it to the public in another referendum.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn added to the turmoil by refusing to rule out cancelling Brexit.
He left the door open to revoking Article 50 — if that’s the price of being propped up by the Lib Dems after the election. And he hinted that Labour could keep free movement after Brexit — a move that will infuriate Leave voters in his party’s heartlands.
At the start of a torrid day for Labour, Sir Keir was skewered on ITV’s Good Morning Britain show. Presenter Susanna Reid asked the Shadow Cabinet minister five times how Labour would campaign in a second referendum.
Unable to give a straight answer, he blustered: “Well, in a sense, what I campaign for is secondary because what we are saying is that it is for the country to decide. We’re saying less power to politicians, that’s where we have been struck for the last 3½ years.”
Ms Reid asked him again if Labour wanted Britain to leave the EU or remain. An almost incoherent Sir Keir muttered: “The Labour party says we are going to put this choice, before you.”
He also revealed that while he will be in charge of Labour’s bid to renegotiate Brexit, he has already ruled out voting for the deal in a second referendum. Instead he wants Britain to Remain. But challenged on this bizarre stance, the rattled frontbencher said: “That is missing the point.”
Sir Keir went on to say the EU’s Customs Union would have to be “reconfigured” because it only allows Member States to set the negotiating mandates for free trade agreements (FTAs).
Labour wants to rip up the rules so the UK can negotiate FTAs “in conjunction” with the bloc. But EU diplomats warned there was “not much” the bloc could do to involve Britain in shaping its trade policy other than drawing up a “consultation” role.
And in a major blow to Mr Corbyn’s election hopes, outgoing Brussels boss Jean-Claude Juncker last night panned Labour’s vision. Speaking about Mr Corbyn’s plan to negotiate a new deal with the EU and then put it to a second referendum, Mr Juncker told the BBC: “Honestly spoken, I don’t think that this is a realistic approach.”
‘NOT REALISTIC’
But the Labour boss defended the policy, insisting his party can negotiate a brand new agreement with the EU in less than three months.
He said: “Keir and I have spent many, many hours in Brussels and other European capitals. We wouldn’t be saying this if we didn’t think it was realistic and do-able.”
But Mr Juncker wasn’t the only senior EU official to dismiss the idea. One senior source said Mr Corbyn’s strategy was “not credible” and “delusional”.
Another admitted that rewriting the PM’s deal to include a closer relationship would be “easy” to achieve within three months, but added: “Less straightforward is what the UK may ask on EU trade policy.”
Keir’s car crash interview
SUSANNA REID: If I vote Labour in the General Election, do I get Brexit or don’t I get Brexit?
KEIR STARMER: You get a referendum…you get the choice between the best deal that can be secured…or Remain.
SR: And what are you going to campaign for in that second referendum?
KS: What I campaign for is secondary…
SR: Hang on, hang on, I need to know what you believe in? Do you think we should leave or remain?
KS: The Labour party says we are going to put this choice, before you.
SR: But I am voting for you…Do you want to leave or remain?
KS: The Labour party says we are going to put this choice, before you. I’ve said many times what my personal position is.
SR: You want to remain.
KS: The Labour party says we are going to put this choice, before you. But that is missing the point.
SR: So I am voting to stay in the EU…Are we leaving or remaining?
KS: The Labour party says we are going to put this choice, before you. We are going to, within six months, have a referendum and we are going to
say here is the best deal that can be secured and it is going to go up against Remain and we are going to let the public decide.
SR: It will be such a good deal that you yourself will vote against it?
KS: Well we are duty bound to get the best deal…
SR: But how can it be a really good deal if you are going to vote against it?
After Sir Keir’s sloppy interview, he and Mr Corbyn travelled to the swing seat of Harlow, Essex, to insist Labour’s contorted Brexit position was in fact “very simple”.
But Mr Corbyn refused to rule out reversing the EU referendum result altogether if that helps him get the keys to No10.
He said: “All I can say is we are campaigning to win this election with a majority Labour government. We are not campaigning to form a coalition with anybody. We’re campaigning to go into office to carry out our manifesto and that’s exactly what we’re going to be doing for the next five weeks in this election campaign.”
Lib Dem boss Jo Swinson has already “ruled out” a deal to put Mr Corbyn in Downing Street. But former Labour MP Chuka Umunna — now a Lib Dem — hinted a back-room arrangement may be possible if Labour ditches its leader.
He added: “The two main parties in their current configuration are not fit for purpose.”
Labour’s Brexit dithering also led to a blast from Tory vice chair James Cleverly, who said: “When the British people voted to leave the EU, it was a vote for change.
“The Labour Party can’t deliver that change and are a vote for the opposite — more delay and uncertainty. They won’t rule out revoking Article 50 altogether and want unlimited immigration, which would put pressure on our NHS.”
In another stump speech, Mr Corbyn will insist the December 12 election is not about him, as he sets out his stall to be PM. He will tell an audience in Telford, Shrops, he aims to be “the kind of Prime Minister who only seeks power in order to share power — because it isn’t about me, it’s about all of us”.
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