Labour’s new Scottish leader challenges Keir Starmer to campaign for ‘greater alignment’ with EU

Anas Sarwar is first senior party figure to push for renegotiation of threadbare trade deal - as his leader stays silent

Labour’s new Scottish leader has challenged Keir Starmer to end his silence on Brexit and campaign for “greater alignment” with the EU.

Anas Sarwar became the first senior party figure to push for what would be a renegotiation of the threadbare trade deal negotiated by Boris Johnson – something his leader has ruled out.

“I support the EU, I want us to have as close a relationship with the EU as possible,” Mr Sarwar said, following his election at the weekend.

“I have been advocating for us to have greater alignment around the single market and customs union ever since the UK voted to leave the union.”

The comments come after Sir Keir failed to even mention Brexit in what Labour billed as the most important speech of his time as leader, in which he vowed to be as bold as Clement Attlee.

At Christmas, Labour MPs were ordered to support the trade deal, despite the evidence it would create a mountain of damaging red tape for businesses – which has since become the punishing reality.

Some fear the decision has made it difficult to criticise the agreement now, while Sir Keir is keen to draw a line under Brexit as he attempts to woo back ‘Red Wall’ voters lost to the Tories.

Mr Sarwar won the leadership contest on Saturday with 57.6 per cent of the vote, but faces a momentous task to rebuild the Labour party in Scotland.

The last three polls show Labour in third place behind the Scottish National Party and the Conservatives – with just 10 weeks until May’s crucial elections to the Holyrood parliament.

The new leader made clear his belief that Scotland would be better off with much closer links to the EU – and described its lost voters as “the original red wall”.

It was where Labour’s vote first collapsed and, without a significant recovery for the party in Scotland, the party would be unable to win the next general election, he said.

“I still want Scotland to have as close alignment as possible with the EU,” Mr Sarwar told The Guardian.

“But the idea that Scottish independence is a light switch moment that is not going to be chaotic, that it isn’t going to take time, and isn’t going to create more division, is just not credible.

“Brexit was bad for Scotland, but independence would be an amplifier, a multiplier of the negatives of Brexit.”

At a pre-Budget speech, Anneliese Dodds, the shadow Chancellor, said Labour was not “blasé” about the problems facing traders – but would not be seeking to rejoin the customs union.

“We’ve had that deal concluded by the Conservative government. Of course, some elements of it still aren’t sorted out.

“But would we would be seeking to immediately renegotiate this deal? No, we’ve got to make the current deal work.”

More than 30 Labour MPs rebelled against the order to back the Brexit deal – and three frontbenchers reigned – but only one voted against the legislation, Streatham’s Bell Ribeiro-Addy.