A Labour backbencher who co-wrote the Brexit red lines in the party's 2024 manifesto has signalled they should be pensioned off by the next General Election, in what commentators describe as the clearest indication yet that rejoining the EU is on the table.
Chris Ward, who served as Sir Keir Starmer's aide when Starmer was Shadow Brexit Secretary, wrote in The Guardian on Monday that the red lines were "designed precisely to close down the debate and to narrow the target" Brexit had become for Labour. He suggested they should be given a "dignified retirement" by the next election.
Red Lines as a Sales Pitch
The 2024 manifesto red lines, co-written by Ward, ruled out rejoining the EU, the single market, the customs union, and a return to freedom of movement. Ward's admission that the red lines were a tool to get through an election rather than a matter of principle has been called one of the more honest statements by a politician in recent years.
Several MPs have now suggested the time is right for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to consider abandoning the Brexit vote and pursuing rejoining. Burnham, who became Prime Minister in July, has said he wants Britain back in the EU in his lifetime, while insisting he is "not proposing any changes in this Parliament". He has called for an "honest discussion" about free movement and has said a single market option could go in a Labour manifesto.
Makerfield Test and Brussels Deal
Burnham has promised that every policy must pass his "Makerfield test", meaning it must improve life in the Leave-voting seat he now represents. However, polling suggesting his own constituents want laws made in Britain, not the EU, indicates his plans may fail that test.
Ward argues that Britain can no longer rely on America, a point he frames as serious in a dangerous world. He maintains that Britain can stand alongside France and Poland without letting Brussels write its food standards or decide who settles here, noting that NATO membership never required the single market.
The danger, according to the analysis, is not one MP's article but what it reveals about the last manifesto and the next one. A red line with a retirement date was never a red line but a sales pitch, and the sale appears nearly closed.
