THE EU will be Labour’s “number-one priority” in foreign policy once in Government, the Shadow Foreign Secretary has declared.
David Lammy did not mince his words as he set out his party’s plan to ramp up chummy ties with Brussels if they win the next general election.
European Commission President Ursula von der LeyenEPA
The Shadow Cabinet Minister said under Labour there would be a “tonal shift” in UK-EU relations and called for more regular discussions between the two.
The MP for Tottenham made the comments on the i podcast Labour’s Plan For Power.
He said: “The European Union is our number-one priority. It’s our number-one priority because it’s our backyard.
“It’s our number-one priority because there is war in Europe and because I believe our future prosperity and security is predicated on good relationships with our European partners.”
About the “tonal shift” in relations with Brussels, he said: “I think we do need to get back to structured dialogue.
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“I think listeners will find it extraordinary that the UK Government does not sit down with the European Union in a structured way every four months or every six months and discuss the issues that matter to both parties.
“We need to get back to that.”
But Mr Lammy stopped short of a Labour pledge to return to the EU, insisting there would be no contemplation to raise the issue in the current political cycle.
Pressed on whether there would have to be a cross-party consensus before the UK could think of rejoining the EU, the senior Labour MP said: “My sense is that Europe would demand one, Britain would have to demonstrate that. So I don’t see that over the next political cycle.”
Tory chairman Richard Holden slammed Mr Lammy’s comments, insisting that for Labour “our country will always be secondary to ideology”.
Mr Holden wrote on social media: “Erm… well we all know it’s been Sir Keir’s Starmer‘s priority. Turns out it’s now officially Labour policy too.
“You might have thought that the British people would be Labour’s priority – but for Labour, local people and our country will always be secondary to ideology
“Remember that Sir Keir Starmer tried to make Jeremy Corbyn our Prime Minister… twice…”
Sir Keir supported staying in the EU during the Brexit vote and later pushed for another referendum while in charge of Labour’s Brexit policy in Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet.
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But since becoming leader, he has made clear that returning to the EU’s single market or customs union is a line Labour does not want to cross and the party said it would not put the UK in a position where it is a “rule-taker” if it wins power.
He came under fire this week for picking the EU anthem as the piece of classical music that “sums up the Labour Party”.
A source close to Sir Keir later suggested the association of his choice with Brussels was coincidental, saying it has “nothing to do” with the leader’s views on the bloc.
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