Sir Keir Starmer has called for the UK to have a “closer trading relationship” with the European Union.
The Labor leader repeated his pledge to “make Brexit work”, claiming the current divorce deal with Brussels was “not a very good deal” and “we need to improve that”.
Answering questions this morning after giving a speech at Queen’s University in Belfast, Sir Keir said: “I made it clear that what the new Labor government will do is make Brexit work. All we have now is a deal, not a very good deal for the whole of the UK and we need to improve it.
“We need closer trade relations, we need better cooperation in research and technology, we need stronger security measures. All this, in my opinion, is possible if we can restore good faith and integrity in the negotiations.”
Sir Keir used his speech to urge Rishi Sunak to strike a deal with the EU in the “coming weeks” to improve the Northern Ireland protocol, as he said Labor would help the Prime Minister get a deal through the House of Commons.
Promising to give Mr Sunak “political cover”, Sir Keir said: “The time to act on the protocol is now. The time to oppose the ERG is now. The time to put Northern Ireland above the never-to-be-satisfied Brexit purity cult is now.”
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