EU In campaign launches with support of Labour figures

The campaign to keep Britain in the EU had its official launch this morning, with appearances from Shadow Europe minister Pat McFadden, Emma Reynolds and former TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.

The cross-party campaign has Will Straw, a Labour candidate in this year’s general election, as its executive director, and the East London launch this morning also featured June Sarpong, who was a vocal supporter of David Lammy in this summer Labour London Mayor selection.

Former Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have signed up to support the campaign for a ‘Remain’ vote in the EU referendum, and the party is likely to take it on as an official position. During the leadership contest, Jeremy Corbyn had expressed some doubts about his commitment to membership of the EU, but since becoming leader has said that he could not see a situation where Labour would campaign to leave. Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn claims that supporting the In campaign will be Labour’s position “under all circumstances”.