July 5, 2022
Labour’s “taking voters for fools” with its vacuous Brexit plan, the Rejoin EU Party says
Keir Starmer’s well-trailed Brexit speech got an understandably hostile reaction from many on the pro-EU side of British politics last night.
The so-called five-point plan contained two points that appear impossible to achieve without following EU rules and a further three that mean very little at all in practice.
Labour apparently plans to “tear down trade barriers” without saying how, whilst claiming it would “sort out” the Northern Ireland protocol with a vague plan for a veterinary agreement.
Labour also wants to “support our world-leading services and scientists, keep Britain safe and invest in Britain” – again leaving voters none the wiser about how it will do it.
Rejoin EU Party leader Richard Hewison said: “When you have no policies of substance, put out a five-point ‘plan’ that says nothing specific and hope to fool people into thinking you’re saying something meaningful.
“Labour seems to wants to talk nicely to the EU, follow EU rules without having a say in them and hope Brussels will throw it a few crumbs of reduced paperwork in return. It’s not going to happen.”
Pro-EU campaigner Ben Rend said: “This feels reminiscent of 2016 Brexit rhetoric. Vague promises about supposed benefits to fool people into voting Labour. Any assumption that the same manipulative tactics that the Leave campaign used will work again is frankly insulting. We’ve had enough ‘cakeism’ – we don’t believe it anymore.”
While Starmer is pursuing this fantasy, even his own colleagues are saying Brexit is broken. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for Britain to re-join the EU’s single market, saying leaving was the biggest piece of ‘self-inflicted harm ever’.”
Rejoin EU Chairman Andrew Smith added: “Sure, we can just follow EU regulations wholesale without having a say in them, but is Labour happy for the UK to be a rule-taker rather than a rule-maker? Is it really ready to accept second-class status for the UK and the massive loss of political influence that entails? Is it that unambitious?
“Labour’s in denial and won’t confront reality – tweaks here and there won’t work. The only way to fix these problems is for the UK to re-join the EU.”
Notes for editors:
The Rejoin EU party is campaigning to re-join the EU because we believe the UK belongs at the heart of Europe and re-joining is the only way to solve the problems Brexit has created. Brexit is broken and it’s breaking our country too. All the promises on which Brexit was sold to the electorate in 2016 are now increasingly exposed as fantasy. Far from bringing the promised reduction in red tape and bureaucracy and providing £350m a week for the NHS, Brexit makes trading with the crucial European market more complex, difficult and expensive and threatens to reduce funding for public services. Sectors such as farming, fisheries & financial services, supposed to benefit from Brexit, now face an uncertain future. If you agree Brexit is making our country poorer, less tolerant and less united, join us and send a strong message to Westminster that you want your EU membership back, along with all its freedoms and benefits.
Contact Rejoin EU at admin@therejoineuparty.com or visit our website at https://www.therejoineuparty.com. You can also follow the party on Twitter at @rejoinp and donate at Rejoin EU Party Campaign Fund – a Politics crowdfunding project in United Kingdom by Rejoin EU Party (crowdfunder.co.uk)