Labour conference: Sir Keir Starmer insists ‘nobody is ruling out Remain as an option’

Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has insisted “nobody is ruling out Remain as an option” in a fresh referendum on the UK’s relationship with the EU.

In a bid to push past confusion on Labour’s position should there be a second public vote, Sir Keir declared the party could still back voters having the choice of staying in the EU.

In his speech to Labour’s conference in Liverpool, Sir Keir said if Theresa May could not reach a Brexit deal with the EU, or parliament votes against an agreement, then Labour “must step up again and shape the debate”.

He said: “Our preference is clear, we want a general election to sweep away this failed government.”

And, deviating from a draft version of his speech, Sir Keir added: “But, if that’s not possible, we must have other options. That must include campaigning for a public vote.

“It’s right that parliament has the first say, but if we need to break the impasse our options must include campaigning for a public vote and nobody is ruling out Remain as an option.”

Sir Keir’s declaration brought a standing ovation from many delegates in the conference hall and the biggest cheer of his entire speech.

However, veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner, who backed Leave, notably did not applaud while a top union leader immediately contradicted Sir Keir’s message.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry also later failed to explicitly back Sir Keir’s stance.

The Conservatives seized on Sir Keir’s conference address.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The Labour Party promised to voters in their manifesto to respect the referendum.

“But they are now tearing up that pledge, failing to deliver on the instruction of the British people. They would take us all back to square one.

“Their decision to vote down any deal in parliament – no matter what the terms – is unprincipled and shows that the Labour Party is putting political calculation above the national interest.”

Sir Keir also faced accusations of a “betrayal” of Labour voters by the party’s Brexiteers, as well as claims he used his speech to position himself as a potential replacement for Jeremy Corbyn.

Brendan Chilton, the general secretary of Labour Leave, said: “Keir’s speech today was a challenge to Jeremy’s leadership.

“It was a carefully calculated pitch, no doubt written with a team of advisers. He is undermining Jeremy, John McDonnell and millions of Labour voters – and he knows it.

“At times the speech had more in common with a leadership stump speech than a policy announcement.

“Many people will wonder whether Sir Keir is trying to line himself up as the Remain replacement for Jeremy.”

Later on Tuesday, Labour members were due to vote on whether to back a motion committing the party to keeping “all options remaining on the table” – including a second referendum – should parliament vote against the prime minister’s Brexit deal and a general election not follow.

Speaking during a conference debate on the motion, Steve Turner, assistant general secretary of Unite the union, told delegates if the government loses a parliamentary vote on the Brexit deal and fails to grant a general election, then “we demand they go back to the people with a vote on the deal”.

However, he added: “That is not a second referendum. Despite what Keir may have said earlier, it’s a public vote on the terms of our departure.

“We desperately need a better, fairer society. We need to heal the wounds of Brexit not reopen them.

“And only our movement, united with a proud socialist Labour government, is capable of doing that.”

At a fringe event after Sir Keir’s speech, Ms Thornberry dismissed the possibility of a Labour government taking Britain back into the EU.

She said: “There are deeply anti-democratic forces around the world and in Britain too, and I am not going to be part of that.

“We had a referendum, we went up and down the country – I went up and down the country – and I said to people ‘this is really serious, you have to make a decision and we will abide by the decision that you make’.

“We said that, we said it solemnly, and we stick to it.”

However, Ms Thornberry admitted she would “absolutely” vote Remain if it was an option in a second EU referendum, while she also suggested – if Labour were to win power at a general election before the end of March next year – they could prolong the UK’s membership of the EU.

The shadow foreign secretary added: “We should have a general election and in our manifesto we should say ‘we will abide by the result of the referendum, we cannot – obviously – leave in current circumstances, we need to extend Article 50’.

“I don’t know how long that will take. We need to extend Article 50 and, essentially, turn up in Europe and say ‘the grown ups are here now’.”

Sir Keir told the conference that Labour MPs would vote against a Brexit deal if the government’s agreement with the EU fails to meet his party’s six tests.

At a fringe event prior to Sir Keir’s conference speech, former Europe minister Caroline Flint MP attacked her party’s six tests as “pretty vague and impossible to quantify”.

She added: “A new referendum will divide voters again, it will tell Labour voters if they voted Brexit they may as well vote Tory. And that cannot be allowed to happen.”

(c) Sky News 2018: Labour conference: Sir Keir Starmer insists ‘nobody is ruling out Remain as an option’