Robert Peston Robert Peston

Is Starmer trying to have his Brexit cake and eat it?

The Labour leader's plan looks remarkably similar to Boris's

(Credit: Getty images)

There are three big questions about Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘five point plan to make Brexit work’. First is whether it makes sense economically: will it help return the UK to growth? Second, will it impress the EU, and is there any chance that what Starmer wants will be agreed by EU leaders? Finally, does it make sense politically, will it reinforce support for the Labour party?

In an interview this afternoon, I probed Starmer on all this, and didn’t emerge much wiser. You can watch the whole (short) interview here:

Starmer does not want to commit to following EU rules in the future

On whether it makes economic sense, I pointed out that many economists would say that the economic price to the UK of being outside the EU stems mainly from the increased costs of trading with the EU that were imposed when the UK left the EU’s single market and customs union.

Robert Peston
Written by
Robert Peston
Robert Peston is Political Editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show Peston. His articles originally appeared on his ITV News blog.

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