Starmer refuses to rule out Labour backing extending article 50
Here is the quote from TalkRadio when Sir Keir Starmer refused to rule out Labourbacking an extension of article 50. Asked if he could guarantee that the UK would leave the EU on 29 March 2019, he replied:
Well the answer is it depends, because we don’t know when we’re going to get a deal. The October deadline might slip to November, November might slip to December. I don’t know, I’m not conducting the negotiations so the timeline is not in our control.
I don’t think at this stage anybody is talking about extending article 50 but if it has to be extended quite frankly it will be because of the collapsing failure of the discussions and the negotiations.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
4.52am
The conference has just opened.
The debate on Brexit is scheduled to run from 11am until 12.35pm.
The vote will not take place until the end of the day, at 5.20pm, although the composite is expected to be agreed overwhelmingly.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
4.35am
Keir Starmer's morning interviews - Summary
Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, has done more or less the full round of media interviews this morning. Here are the key points he made.
Starmer refused to rule out Labour backing an extension of article 50. But, in an interview with TalkRadio, he implied he did not expect it. This is from TalkRadio’s Ross Kempsell.
Starmer said that Labour had united around a position on Brexit and that this was “amazing”. He said:
What happened on Sunday night is we got 300 or so delegates into a room to composite a motion, to reach agreement. We had to reach consensus ... And we reached consensus. Now, that is amazing.
(Starmer was rather glossing over the fact that Labour has only been able to reach agreement by drafting a composite motion that is sufficiently non-specific to accommodate people with very different views.)
He said the Tories would not able to reach an agreed position on Brexit.
We’ve got a proposition that is going to be put to a vote today. There is going to be unity behind that. And I’ll tell you what; I’ll compare, at one o’clock today when we vote on that, to what is going to happen next week at the Tory party conference. If by Tuesday there’s a proposition voted on at the Tory party conference which they have all agreed, I’ll be astonished. But that’s going to happen today with the Labour party.
He said, if the UK was heading for a no deal Brexit, the option of remain should be an option in any referendum. He said:
The question will have to be determined when we get to that stage. We don’t know whether there’s a deal or no deal. But if we’re heading for no deal, then there might be a fight between no deal and something else, and the option of remain needs to remain on the table.
