'Don't sell us down the river' Now Labour MP calls for single market membership
A LEADING backbench MP appeared to get muddled over Labour's Brexit policy when he told a radio audience Britain could leave the EU but remain within the single market and the customs union.
David Davis proposes a temporary customs deal after Brexit
In recent days Labour MPs have been repeatedly quizzed over whether Labour wants to leave the single market and customs union.
Brexit Secretary David Davis has called for Britain to strike a temporary customs union deal with the European Union after Brexit.
Wes Streeting, the MP for Ilford North told Radio 5 Live: “I think we can perfectly respect the outcome of the referendum whilst remaining members of the single market and the customs union.
“I think that would be the best outcome to deliver on the verdict of the referendum. But to make sure that this country’s economy is not sold down the river.”
Mr Streeting, who is part of the Open Britain group, appeared to argue for a position within the EU that was not possible.
But membership of the both the free market and the customs union is dependent on being an EU member and the proposal advocated by Mr Streeting would likely be ripped apart by Brussels chiefs.
Mr Streeting said: “This is the fallacy about leaving not just the customs union but also the single market.
“There is the notion that being a member of the EU that Britain is no longer a global trading country.
“This is a nonsense simply because businesses small, medium and large are trading with the entire world but through our membership of the EU, through the single market, through the customs union.
“The EU has more free trade agreements with more countries around the world than any other leading economy.
“So not only will qw be leaving the single market, we’ll be scrapping those free trade deals that we currently have with the rest of the world.”
Mr Streeting’s comments appear to be at odds with official Labour policy on Brexit and customs arrangements.
Keir Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, commenting on the latest government proposals for a transitional deal said: “Labour is clear that we need to retain the benefits of the Customs Union and avoid a cliff-edge for the British economy. That means committing now to strong transitional arrangements on the same basic terms we currently enjoy - including the Single Market and the Customs Union.”
Mr Streeting also attacked the Government's proposals, saying it was just pushing back the inevitable “cliff edge” by a couple of years and not solving the problem of trade.
He said: “David Davis hasn’t really set out is the long-term vision for Britain’s trading relationship with the European Union because as David Davis acknowledged, businesses are worried about that cliff edge.
“My concern is, with the proposals he has set out today, which contradict very much what the Chancellor and the international trade secretary were saying just the other day, even if you achieve that, what your are doing is pushing the cliff edge back, so in two years time we may still face that cliff edge.
“This needs certainty now not further down the track. For the government to be confused as much as they seem to be just in the space of one week at this stage of the Brexit negotiations it should give us all cause for concern.”
Brexit Secretary Mr Davis told Sky News a temporary trade arrangement will “enable business to continue as usual” while a more permanent solution is devised.
A transitional deal will be in “both sides’ interest”, Mr Davis continued, but should not exceed two years – with the 2022 General Election the “absolute maximum”.
He added there is "a whole series of things to be done which we think are eminently doable inside that two-year period - or whatever it is, I would think maybe as much as that but no more than that."