Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has blasted Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for wanting to take Britain back into the EU “in all but name”.
Writing exclusively for Express.co.uk, Mr Cleverly has blasted Labour’s “backwards looking” foreign policy and warned that despite his claims he does not want to rejoin Sir Keir is planning on doing exactly that.
He said: “Because Keir Starmer is still obsessed with looking at the EU. When he says Europe he means the EU.
“When he told a conference ‘we will not diverge from the EU’ he was not just showing us what he really thinks he was laying the groundwork to turn back the clock and revisit the Brexit arguments of the past.”
He added: “He voted to remain, then he was in favour of a second referendum, then he wanted to make Brexit work, and now he wants to ‘rebuild’ ties with the EU, by re-joining in all but name by the back door. Before hurriedly adding 24 hours later he doesn’t want to re-join.”
Join our free WhatsApp community for the latest politics news
Labour have denied that their plan is to rejoin the EU or Single Market and Customs Union.
They have insisted the policy is “to make Brexit work”.
But Sir Keir’s comments about aligning with EU regulations at a conference in Canada have set off alarm bells.
Mr Cleverly’s attack underlines a new aggressive policy by the Tories under Sunak’s leadership which aims to put the focus on Labour policies.
It follows the Prime Minister effectively firing the starting gun for the general election campaign last week when he ditched or delayed a series of net zero policies.
Insiders have said that they want to put the focus on what Labour would do in power with Sir Keir already indicating in the last fortnight that he would hand over power on tackling illegal migration to Brussels.
With the latest Techne UK tracker poll putting the Conservatives 19 points behind, it is expected that there will be more pieces like Mr Cleverly’s highlighting the realities of Labour policies.
Mr Cleverly said that the “mask had slipped” on Starmer’s approach to Brexit.
He warned: “Keir Starmer does not have a serious vision for Britain, out of the EU and operating at the centre of the world stage.”
