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Sir Keir Starmer will today promise that a Labour government would not bring back EU freedom of movement as he attempts to draw a line under the party’s Brexit divisions. The Labour leader will deliver a speech at the Centre for European Reform think-tank this evening in which he will set out a five point plan to “Make Brexit Work”. He will say that under Labour, the UK would not rejoin the EU and nor would it join the bloc’s single market or customs union. And on migration, he will say: “We will not return to freedom of movement to create short term fixes.” 

In a speech to the Centre for European Reform, Starmer will set out what he describes as a five point plan to “make Brexit work”. As well as plans to align with EU agriculture rules he will also pledge to follow EU regulations in other areas such as chemicals and product safety standards saying Labour has “no intention from diverging standards below current levels”.In addition he will promise to agree a deal over the Northern Ireland protocol and push for British UK scientific institutions to be allowed back in the EU Horizon funding scheme.

Mr Starmer will set out his five point plan to 'Make Brexit Work' at the Centre for European Reform. He believes it will "remove some of the [trade] barriers" that are currently holding Britain back.

In a speech at pro-EU think tank the Centre for European Reform, Sir Keir rejected that approach, arguing it would be a "recipe for more division".
He added: "There are some who say, 'We don't need to make Brexit work. We need to reverse it'.

Sir Keir Starmer will say Labour would negotiate mutual recognition of professional qualifications and keep Britain in EU science programmes, including the €95bn Horizon scheme, which is cherished by UK researchers. Data adequacy rules would be aligned but Starmer would follow Johnson in pursuing a different course on City regulation, he will say in an address to the Centre for European Reform.

Keir Starmer will set out Labour’s five-point plan for “making Brexit work” in a speech at the Centre for European Reform today.

Labour has now sent out a lengthy preview of what Keir Starmer will say in his speech on Brexit to the Centre for European Reform tonight. 

Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said the ministers’ statement “shows a hardening of the EU line on the protocol”. “The new German government is a few notches tougher on the British than its predecessor,” he said. “In recent years it has often been the French who have taken the hardest line among the 27 — but the joint statement shows they are not alone. EU governments now say that the arguments over the protocol are not just about Northern Ireland, they are about the UK’s international reputation as a country that respects the rule of law.”