Keir Starmer, the British Labour Party's Shadow Secretary for Exiting the European Union, on Sunday rejected the Government's proposed blueprint for leaving the bloc almost immediately as it was publicized.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr. Starmer called the proposal "a bureaucratic nightmare, that is just not going to work. So she doesn't come anywhere near what we're proposing."
WATCH: “We’ve now got two propositions [on customs], we’ve got the Labour proposition which I think has the majority support in Parliament, and the Prime Minister’s new proposition, let’s put it to a vote,” @Keir_Starmer pic.twitter.com/o30R12Hvwu
— Shadow Brexit Team (@ShadowBrexit) July 8, 2018
While both political parties have committed themselves to withdrawing from the Customs Union, through which the 28 EU member states collectively negotiate trade agreements, and then forming a customs arrangement with Brussels, the Labour Party has also committed to retaining access to and the benefits of the EU Single Market in order to protect domestic employment. Theresa May on the other hand, in her Lancaster House Speech in 2017 pledged that her government would pull the UK completely out of all the attendant institutions of the bloc, including the Single Market and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
A Parliamentary bill on the UK's future customs relationship with Europe is to return to the House of Commons for a vote in the next week. Using his media appearance, Mr. Starmer insisted that the opportunity be used to put both proposals of the major parties to a vote, believing the Labour proposal would garner more support particularly from Remain-supporting Conservative MPs.
