Keir Starmer is the right person to negotiate Brexit – or at least to hold the Government to account

The Prime Minister is guilty, as Sir Keir says, of setting ‘a belligerent tone with our EU colleagues’. The Labour approach, of working in partnership for a softer Brexit, is in the national interest

(Rex)

If this really were the Brexit election, as we thought it would be when Theresa May called it, Sir Keir Starmer would have played a more prominent part in the campaign. As it is, his interview with The Independent today is one of his rare appearances. This is a pity, because Sir Keir is an asset to the shadow Cabinet, and there are not that many on the Labour team who compare favourably with their Conservative opposite numbers.

The Independent would rather have Sir Keir negotiate Brexit over the next two years than David Davis, the Brexit Secretary. This is not simply a matter of wanting a softer Brexit, with less emphasis on restricting immigration and more on the free flowing of trade, prosperity and people. It is partly a matter of being impressed with Sir Keir’s thoughtfulness and grasp of the complexity of the problem.

The shadow Brexit Secretary has been talked of as a possible future leader of his party, but has often seemed hesitant and lost in detail. Yet he has managed a doubly difficult brief with some skill. Not only does he have to straddle the two sides in Labour’s civil war, but he also has to try to manage the divide between Remainers and Leavers.

As a result, the Labour Party has ended up with an awkward policy, but one that is probably the only viable position for a potential alternative government. Sir Keir accepts the result of the referendum, and that it means the end of free movement. But that is, as he says in his interview, the beginning of the negotiation, not the end.

He also accepts the Prime Minister’s position, that the UK cannot be subject to the European Court of Justice, although he does entertain the possibility that it could be the forum for resolving trade disputes with the EU. With his legal background, he plainly speaks with authority and would be able to negotiate the detail.

Without going into the detail of the Brexit talks – as Theresa May said on the BBC Question Time special, that would not be a good negotiating tactic – Sir Keir can talk only in the generalities of teamwork and tone. But on this he is persuasive. The Prime Minister is indeed guilty, as Sir Keir says, of setting “a belligerent tone with our EU colleagues”. Her declaration of war at the start of the election campaign, accusing Brussels of interfering in British democracy, was crude domestic politics and against the national interest. Sir Keir is right to say: “There is nothing wrong with being tough, we would be tough, but we’ve also got to get the right deal.”

Of course, as our ComRes poll suggests today, Sir Keir may not be the UK’s lead negotiator when the talks begin 11 days after polling day. But if, after Thursday, Labour is still in opposition, he would still be the right person to take the lead in holding the Government to account.

The critical negotiations over the next year and a bit are potentially the most important in deciding the nation’s future since we entered the European Community 44 years ago. It is crucial, therefore, that Ms May should feel the heat, of an opposition pressing her to defend the national interest, which must mean welcoming, as much as possible, the free flow of people that enriches this country so much.