He was confirming a report in Britain’s Guardian in which shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer backed “continued membership of the EU single market beyond March 2019” in an attempt to offer a clear alternative to the Brexit currently proposed by Theresa May’s Conservative government. After months of uncertainty and division on Labour’s position, this new offer is aimed at providing a springboard for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to potentially defeat the Conservatives at election. “That means remaining in a form of customs union with the EU is a possible end destination for Labour, but that must be subject to negotiations. It also means that Labour is flexible as to whether the benefits of the single market are best retained by negotiating a new single market relationship or by working up from a bespoke trade deal,” he was quoted as saying. Britain’s economy suffered weakness on all fronts in the three months to June, with shoppers pinched by the pound’s weakness on foreign exchange markets, exports failing to fill the gap, and business investment frozen by Brexit uncertainty, data showed.

Source: bd News24 August 27, 2017 06:00 UTC