Keir Starmer says he does not think rejoining single market would boost economic growth ‘at this stage’

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Keir Starmer says he does not think rejoining single market would boost economic growth ‘at this stage’

Good morning. Sir Keir Starmer has been doing interviews this morning before the publication of the report from the party’s Commission on the UK’s Future, chaired by Gordon Brown. Most of the reporting in advance has focused on a recommendation in the report that the House of Lords should be abolished, partly because on Saturday the Times ran a story claiming “proposals to abolish the House of Lords are set to be watered down after an eleventh-hour row between Gordon Brown and Sir Keir Starmer’s advisers”. The paper claimed that Brown wanted a firm commitment from Starmer to abolish the Lords, while Starmer’s team just wanted to commit to consulting on reform. That is why, when Starmer was on the Today programme a few minutes ago, the first question was about whether Starmer wanted to abolish the Lords.

Starmer said he did – but he said that when that would happen would be a matter for consultation.

Starmer also stressed that the recomendations in the report go far beyond what should happen to the upper chamber. That was obvious in the overnight briefing released by the party which did not even mention the Lords, and instead stressed the party’s commitment to decentralisation, and the devolution of power to local government.

We’ll come back to those shortly, because in his Today interview Starmer was also asked about Brexit. He has repeatedly said that a Labour government would not take the UK back into the single market, but he put a particularly provocative spin on this when responding to a question from Mishal Husain, who asked if membership of the single market would boost economic growth. Starmer replied:

No, at this stage, I don’t think it would. And there’s no case for going back to the EU, or going back into the single market.

I do think there’s a case for a better Brexit. I do think there’s a very strong case for making Brexit work.

When Husain pressed him again on this, pointing out that economists say trade has suffered because the UK has been out of the single market, Starmer replied:

I think trade has gone down because the deal that we’ve got is not a very good deal. I think we can move from getting Brexit done, which is all that we’ve managed at the moment, to making Brexit work and I do think there’s a better deal.

But do I think … that going back into years of wrangling, years of uncertainty, is going to help the economy? No, I don’t.

I spent many, many years post-2016 talking to businesses who said to me, over and over again, the thing that’s hardest for us is all the uncertainty. And that for many years held us back.

I will post more from the interview shortly.

Here is the agenda for the day.

10am: Keir Starmer holds a press conference with Gordon Brown to launch the report from the Commission on the UK’s Future, which Brown chaired.

11.30pm: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

3.30pm: Starmer and Brown hold a second launch of the commission’s report in Edinburgh.

After 3.30pm: MPs resume their debate on the online safety bill. The bill has been paused for months because first Liz Truss’s government, and then Rishi Sunak’s, were considering changes to it. Those changes were announced last week.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions and, if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com

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Keir Starmer is now speaking at the Labour event. He says it is fantastic to be back at Leeds University, where he spent three happy years.

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He praises Tracy Brabin’s record in West Yorkshire, protecting the safety of women and girls, and delivering better and cheaper buses.

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But she is being held back by the centralisation of power in the UK, he says.

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He says Britain is one of the most centralised countries in Europe, “and the centre has not delivered”.

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He says people want change. He argued for remain during the Brexit referendum. But he says he could not argue against what many leave voters were calling for – more control over their lives.

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And the same applied in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, he says.

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People up and down this country are crying out for a new approach. During the Brexit referendum I argued for remain. But I couldn’t disagree with the basic case that many leave voters made to me.

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They wanted democratic control over their lives so they could provide opportunities for the next generation, build communities they felt proud of, And public services they could rely on.

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And I know that in the Scottish referendum in 2014. Many of those who voted yes did so for similar reasons. The same frustration at a Westminster system that seems remote. The same yearning for the power to build a fairer future for themselves and their families.

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People know Britain needs change. But they are never going to get it from the Tories. I am determined that, with Labour, people will get the change they deserve.

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The Brown report has just been published in full. Here is a summary of the main points from PA Media.

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Abolish the ‘indefensible’ House of Lords

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The commission proposed replacing the unelected upper chamber with a “smaller, more representative and democratic” assembly of the nations and regions, although details would be matters for further consultation.

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Clean up politics

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The panel proposed new rules for politicians and civil servants, clamping down on MPs’ second jobs and a “powerful” anti-corruption commissioner to root out criminal behaviour in British political life.

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Create a ‘New Britain’ by rebalancing the economy to drive up living standards in some of the most deprived areas and giving more local control over decision-making

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The panel called for a new constitutional law setting out how political power should be shared, with a requirement for decisions to be taken “as close as meaningfully possible” to the people affected by them.

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There would be an explicit requirement to rebalance the economy to spread prosperity and investment more equally across the UK.

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The right to healthcare based on need rather than ability to pay would be enshrined in a set of protected social rights.

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Creating new regional industrial clusters

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Towns, cities and other areas would be brought together as part of a co-ordinated economic strategy.

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Mayors and local leaders will play a key role in shaping the plans, with the UK Infrastructure Bank and a British Regional Investment Bank (a rebadged British Business Bank) supporting investment.

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Some 50,000 civil service jobs would be transferred out of London.

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Extra powers for Scotland and Wales, with restored and strengthened devolution in Northern Ireland

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Scotland would be able to enter into international agreements in relation to devolved matters, the status of MSPs would be bolstered, devolution would get greater constitutional protection and there would be enhanced access to economic support through the British

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Regional Investment Bank

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Wales could get new powers over youth justice and probation, while constitutional protections for devolution and the rights of members of the senedd would be extended in a way similar to the Scottish proposals, along with access to British Regional Investment Bank funding.

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In Northern Ireland there is a desire for devolution to be “restored and strengthened”.

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A new culture of co-operation between the UK Government, England’s regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

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New, legally-mandated “councils of the nations and regions and of England” will replace the present joint ministerial committees.

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The new bodies would include not just devolved administrations but local leaders from within England, to prevent the government treating communities in a “high-handed way”.

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Tracy Brabin, the Labour mayor for West Yorkshire, is speaking at the launch of the Commission on the UK’s Future report at an event in Leeds.

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There is a live feed at the top of the blog.

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She says trust in politics is at a record low. But trust in local leaders is at an all-time high, she claims.

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In his interviews this morning Keir Starmer was keen to stressed that the recommendations in the Commission on the UK’s Future report out today go well beyond abolition of the House of Lords. He highlighted the decentralisation plans – which make for a less exciting story than the defenestration of the nation’s peers, but arguably could be more important.

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Summing up the report in the overnight Labour press release, Starmer said:

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The centre hasn’t delivered. We have an unbalanced economy which makes too little use of the talents of too few people in too few places. We will have higher standards in public life, a wider spread of power and opportunity, and better economic growth that benefits everyone, wherever they are. By setting our sights higher, wider, better, we can build a better future together.

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And this is how Labour summarised what the report says:

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Among the report’s 40 recommendations is the need to give local communities new powers over skills, transport, planning and culture to drive growth. Delivering greater powers, combined with local growth plans, will enable the emergence of hundreds of ‘clusters’ of economic activity in cities and towns across all regions and nations of the United Kingdom. The co-ordination of activity across these clusters, by the people who know the assets of these areas best, will bring together local leadership, businesses, innovators, skilled workers, unions and entrepreneurs, that can drive a ‘new pro-growth strategy and make every part of our country more prosperous’ created economic activity that is more than the sum of its parts …

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To make this happen the commission proposes real economic empowerment for our devolved government, the mayors, and local authorities, including:

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New powers over transport and infrastructure

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New powers to stimulate growth, with longer funding settlements, and commitments to R&D that take into account local economic plans

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New powers over development and housing, such as compulsory purchase orders on vacant sites

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A regionally-oriented investment bank to ensure start-ups have access to equity capital needed to scale

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Powers over economic development and job creation and the devolution of Jobcentres

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Powers to link training and skills to local employment needs through devolution of colleges

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In his Today interview Keir Starmer also appeared to rule out Jeremy Corbyn standing as a Labour candidate at the next election. Asked if Corbyn would be the party’s candidate in Islington North at the next election, Starmer replied:

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I don’t see the circumstances in which that can happen. Obviously, we’ve not got to the selection of that particular constituency yet, but I don’t see the circumstances in which Jeremy Corbyn will stand as a Labour candidate.

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Corbyn is still a Labour party member, but he lost the whip more than two years ago after his response to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission report about antisemitism in the Labour party under his leadership was deemed to play down the seriousness of the problem.

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At the time Starmer said that, to have the whip restored (which has to happen for Corbyn to be eligible to stand as a Labour candidate), Corbyn would have to apologise. But that has not happened, the standoff has not been resolved, and Starmer’s latest comment (which echoes what his aides have been saying in private) is probably the most explicit public confirmation from him yet about Corbyn not being able to return to the party.

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Starmer said he did – but he said that when that would happen would be a matter for consultation.

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No, at this stage, I don’t think it would. And there’s no case for going back to the EU, or going back into the single market.

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I do think there’s a case for a better Brexit. I do think there’s a very strong case for making Brexit work.

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When Husain pressed him again on this, pointing out that economists say trade has suffered because the UK has been out of the single market, Starmer replied:

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I think trade has gone down because the deal that we’ve got is not a very good deal. I think we can move from getting Brexit done, which is all that we’ve managed at the moment, to making Brexit work and I do think there’s a better deal.

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But do I think … that going back into years of wrangling, years of uncertainty, is going to help the economy? No, I don’t.

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I spent many, many years post-2016 talking to businesses who said to me, over and over again, the thing that’s hardest for us is all the uncertainty. And that for many years held us back.

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I will post more from the interview shortly.

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Here is the agenda for the day.

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10am: Keir Starmer holds a press conference with Gordon Brown to launch the report from the Commission on the UK’s Future, which Brown chaired.

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11.30pm: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

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3.30pm: Starmer and Brown hold a second launch of the commission’s report in Edinburgh.

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If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

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Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com

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