Rosie Duffield’s re-join remarks will haunt the Labour party

Every party keeps on file a list of rash things politicians in other parties have said that can be used against them at a later date.

Way back when I was directing Ukip’s 2014 European parliamentary campaign, I built up a ‘helpful contributions’ folder containing print-outs of gaffes and embarrassing admissions made by pro-EU MPs and MEPs.

Conservative Campaign Headquarters probably has at its disposal a far more sophisticated and comprehensive digital system for logging the own-goals of its adversaries. But one thing is certain, someone will imminently be inputting an entry marked something like ‘Duffield, R. – Labour’s plan to re-join the EU’.

Because Rosie Duffield, the Labour MP for Canterbury, has served up a precious New Year cargo for Tory strategists scoping out how to keep hold of the former ‘Red Wall’ seats won from Labour in 2019.

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She has not merely signalled her own determination to campaign for Britain to re-join the EU – several Labour politicians have done that – but has gone a big step further.