Brexit: UK could stay in single market permanently, Labour deputy Tom Watson says

Deputy leader says continued membership could be 'permanent outcome' of negotiations

Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, speaking at the Scottish Labour Party Conference in Perth on 25 February (PA)

Labour will push for Britain to remain within the single market permanently as it seeks to position itself as the party of soft Brexit, the party’s deputy leader has said.

Tom Watson said continued membership of the trade organisations after withdrawal from the European Union could be a “permanent outcome” of the Brexit negotiations.

His comments reflect a shift in Labour’s Brexit policy following shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer's announcement that the UK should transitionally remain in the single market and the customs union for up to four years after Britain formally leaves the EU in 2019.

Pressed on whether Labour was the party of a soft Brexit, Mr Watson told BBC Newsnight: "Yes, you have seen Keir Starmer's statement, we think that being part of the customs union and the single market is important in those transitional times because that is the way you protect jobs and the economy, and it might be a permanent outcome of the negotiations, but we have got to see how those negotiations go."

Sir Keir said his party would pursue the "same basic terms" as the current EU arrangements as he sought to dispel confusion over Labour's Brexit strategy.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell have both previously ruled out staying within the single market after Brexit. Membership would mean the UK had to retain freedom of movement under current rules.

It comes as a cross-party group of MPs led calls for Britain to remain in the customs union permanently after leaving the EU.

Labour's Chuka Umunna and Tory Anna Soubry, who co-chair the All-Party Parliamentary Group on EU Relations, said leaving the trade agreement was “reckless and economically dangerous”.

However, the European Parliament chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt dismissed proposals to recreate EU structures as “not serious, fair or even possible given the negotiating time remaining”.

The latest round of Brexit talks ended with a frosty press conference where EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier accused Britain of seeking an "impossible" deal on its exit from the bloc.