Keir Starmer: It would be very damaging to crash out of the EU without a deal

“I accept we won’t be members, but we must be partners” of the EU, Keir Starmer has said today.

Laying out his six tests for the Brexit deal, Starmer was clear that Britain should get the “exact same benefits” from the single market and customs union, saying that this is what David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has said in parliament is what the government is aiming for.

Fair management of migration is another key principle for Starmer, with free movement gone, saying that he “accepts” that the vote was partially motivated by a desire to change immigration in Britain.

“If our tests are not met then we do not intend to support the deal the government comes back with.”

He said that he feels that there is a majority in the house of commons for a collaborative Brexit, where our future relationship with the European Union is maintained, not for a hard Brexit where we crash out of the European Union, and the economic harms that that entails.

Starmer made sure to start his interview on the Marr show with a tribute to PC Keith Palmer, who lost his life defending parliament, and to all those killed in Wednesday’s terror attack on Westminster.

“I was concerned by what was revealed last weekend and I think Tom Watson was quite right to call them out on it,” he said, in reference to revelations where the founder of Momentum, Jon Lansman, expressed his belief that Unite with Len McCluskey reelected as general secretary would affiliate to the pro-Corbyn group. 

“That all being said, we  do as a party need to find a way to come together and fight the really important fights that are going on. We had the terrible attack last week, we’ve got article 50 being triggered on Wednesday, there are big national issues that the Labour party needs to be focussed on.”