Labour says ‘we’ve moved on’ from Brexit despite Lammy’s EU focus

Good morning, and a very happy Brexit day to you. Today marks seven years since the UK voted to leave the EU, and what a peaceful time in politics and the wider world that turned out to be. Labour’s Seema Malhotra told Sky News this morning that she thinks “we’ve all moved on” from the Brexit vote and that her constituents know it is a “settled question”. This view doesn’t seem to be wholly shared by Labour’s frontbench, however, with David Lammy continuing this week to set out the party’s desired future relationship with the EU. In a speech to the Trade Unlocked Conference on Tuesday, the Shadow Foreign Secretary reiterated that Labour would seek to improve relations with the EU and hit back at the criticism he received from the Conservatives following a similar intervention last week. He told attendees the next Labour government will be focused on the “pragmatic” and “turning the page on the era of acrimony that this government has overseen”, though he stressed again that the party would not rejoin the EU, the single market or customs union.

Today, Labour is plugging its existing plan to “revitalise” high streets, off the back of new analysis from the party that estimated that as many as 300,000 businesses may have been forced to cut hours as a result of inflation. Jonathan Reynolds accused the government of having “failed to secure our economy, failed families and failed businesses”, adding: “Hard-working families will be seeing shift hours reduced while business owners are forced to make impossible choices.” Labour’s five-point plan (they do love a five-point plan) includes cutting business rates for small businesses, funded by increasing the digital services tax paid by online companies like Amazon, and supporting small businesses with their energy bills by offering vouchers for energy efficiency measures.

Meanwhile, Labour selections and internal elections have been rolling on this week. Neil Guild has been selected as the party’s candidate for the Somerton and Frome by-election. Guild is UNISON’s regional convenor for the South West and previously held the role of chair of the South West regional Labour Party. Outside politics, he served in the British Army for more than six years and now works as a civil engineer. Labour’s candidate for Mid Beds Alistair Strathern is growing impatient for polling day and has launched a petition calling on incumbent MP Nadine Dorries to honour her word and resign. The former Culture Secretary announced earlier this month that she was standing down “with immediate effect” but has yet to do so officially amid a row over Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list. And nominations close at midday today in internal party elections for positions on the conference arrangements committee (CAC), the national constitutional committee, the national women’s committee and a couple of positions on Labour’s ruling national executive committee. LabourList has a primer on the elections here, as well as the pitches from the left and right slates for the CAC.

Glastonbury continues to be a focal point for political news, with a screening of the controversial film Oh Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie appearing to have gone ahead at the festival, despite organisers cancelling another planned screening after a backlash and accusations of antisemitism. Elsewhere, Ed Miliband has denied claims by the Just Stop Oil campaign group that he was “banned” from speaking at the festival by the Labour leadership because representatives of the group would also be appearing. The Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero Secretary’s team told Politico that his appearance is going ahead, with the Just Stop Oil representative in question due to speak on a different stage. And Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting has similarly disputed claims by singer Billy Bragg that he was “replaced” at the festival by fellow frontbencher Rosena Allin-Khan, tweeting: “I had to pull out because I have a relative who is desperately ill and I need to be there.”

In other news, at least seven university Labour clubs have written a joint open letter to Labour Students nationally, saying they feel “disillusioned” and “unrepresented” following its conference. They criticised the way motions were handled, the wrong “impression” given on Labour Students’ social media of a movement united behind the party’s “direction” and the invitation of a parliamentary candidate who has criticised abuse of JK Rowling and Rosie Duffield over their trans rights views (though he has defended other public figures facing abuse on other issues too). A handful more clubs are expected to release similar statements, though around 39 universities sent representatives overall. Labour Students declined to comment.

And last up, what is thought to be the longest single period of industrial action in the history of the health service will be undertaken by junior doctors in England next month. The five-day walkout will take place between 7am on July 13th and 7am on July 18th. The RMT has also announced three further days of strike action by rail workers, scheduled for July 20th, 22nd and 29th and covering 14 rail companies. These latest strike announcements follow the minimum service levels bill’s return to the Commons on Wednesday, which saw MPs vote down amendments put forward by the Lords intended to strip out some of the anti-strike bill’s more draconian elements.