Labour wants a new Brexit deal – here’s why business shouldn’t get its hopes up
Labour leader Keir Starmer and his shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)
That shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has finally chosen to talk about Europe – about breaking down EU trade barriers, regulatory alignment with the continent, and negotiating a better deal than Boris Johnson managed – is a clear indication that Labour thinks it is all but home and hosed as far as the general election concerned.
This had been one of those subjects the party was desperate not to mention for fear of frightening horses. Now, we’re once again talking about revisiting Johnson’s Trade & Co-operation Agreement (TCA) and admitting that this would inevitably mean agreeing to align with EU standards.
A Labour government is only too well aware that it needs to boost economic growth if it is ever to make its shaky-looking numbers add up. The trade barrier erected along the English Channel is one of the biggest impediments to that.