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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he agreed with the “basic case” made by many Leave supporters during the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Despite his own backing the Remain campaign, Sir Keir said he understood the desire for more “control” from those who wanted the UK to quit the EU.
“During the Brexit referendum I argued for Remain. But I couldn’t disagree with the basic case that many leave voters made to me,” the Labour leader will say in a speech on democratic reform on Monday.
Sir Keir will add: “They wanted democratic control over their lives so they could provide opportunities for the next generation, build communities they felt proud of and public services they could rely on.”
“And I know that in the Scottish referendum in 2014, many of those who voted Yes did so for similar reasons. The same frustration at a Westminster system that seems remote.”
Asked if membership of the EU single market would boost economic growth, Sir Keir told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “No at this stage I don’t think it would.”
The Labour leader, who has been accused by the SNP of trying to “out-Brexit” the Tories, added: “There is no case for going back to the EU or going back into the single market. I do think there’s a case for a better Brexit.”
Sir Keir said it was possible to improve on the existing hard Brexit deal with a new veterinary agreement for agri-food products, and called for a comprise to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol row. “There is a whole host of ways to move forward to a better set of arrangements,” he said.
The Labour leader will set out plans to abolish the House of Lords on Monday – promising “the biggest ever transfer of power from Westminster to the British people”.
Gordon Brown will join Sir Keir to unveil the report of the party’s commission on the UK’s future – which the ex-premier headed – at a joint press conference in Leeds.
Mr Starmer has hinted that some of the measures – including a new democratic assembly of nations and regions to replace the Lords – may have to wait for a second term Labour government.
Asked if it could be done in one term, Sir Keir told BBC Breakfast: “I’m very keen that all of the recommendations in the report are carried out as quickly as possible.”
He said all the recommendations in the report, including the proposal to abolish the Lords, are “deliberately written in a way that means they can be implemented within the first five years of a Labour government”.
Despite claims over a rift with Mr Brown over reports attempt to water down the former PM’s to replace the Lords, Sir Keir made clear he wanted to replacing “indefensible” Lords with an elected second chamber.
Among the Brown report’s 40 recommendations is a call to give local communities new powers over skills, transport, planning and culture to drive growth.
Combined with local growth plans, the report argues this will enable the emergence of hundreds of “clusters” of economic activity in cities and towns across the UK.
New powers over transport, infrastructure, development and planning – including compulsory purchase orders on vacant sites – would be handed to the devolved administrations, the mayors and local authorities.
The report also proposes a series of measures to clean up politics including a new anti-corruption agency, an integrity and ethics commission and a ban on most second jobs for MPs.
Keir Starmer will set out vision for democratic reform in Leeds
(PA)
Mr Brown said there was a feeling many in the Lords were there “simply because they have been friends with the Conservative Party and not because of their contribution to public policy”.
He added: “Every second chamber in the world, with very few exceptions, is relatively small and usually smaller than the first chamber. And we’ve now got a House of Lords that has got 830 members … Therefore the current system is indefensible.”
Sir Keir said it would be “complete and utter nonsense” for the Tories to suggest he is playing politics with topics only relevant in Westminster.
The Labour leader said he is “not interested, frankly” in what the Tories have to say. “They’ve had 12 years, and I don’t think anybody hand on heart could say we’ve landed in a good place,” he said.
Sir Keir also said it was unlikely that his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn – suspended over his response to an independent report into antisemitism in the party – will be a Labour candidate at the general election.
“I don’t see the circumstances that Jeremy Corbyn will stand at the next election as a Labour MP,” he said on the independent MP for Islington North.
