Sir Keir Starmer tells Remainers: 'Stop patronising Brexit voters'
Sir Keir Starmer has launched a stinging attack on 'patronising' Remainers, urging them to stop 'belittling' people who voted for Brexit.
Labour's shadow Brexit Secretary hit out at pro-EU campaigners for accusing people who voted Leave in the EU referendum of lacking the intelligence to know what they were voting for.
Sir Keir, one of the key figures in the defeated Remain campaign, was speaking to the Express & Star after addressing a seminar for business leaders in the West Midlands.
He said it was 'hugely patronising' to say that Brexit backers 'didn't understand the argument', and added: "We have to respect people whichever way they voted.
"People voted to Leave or Remain for reasons that were right for themselves, their family and their communities.
"We will not win the battle about what the future of our country looks like by belittling people who didn't vote in the way that we thought they should have voted.
"The idea that we refuse to accept the result because half the country didn't know what they were voting for is wrong and we should have nothing to do with it."
Sir Keir insisted that the Labour party had developed its Brexit vision in recent months following criticisms that the party lacked clarity over issues including access to the single market.
"The Labour Party this summer was absolutely clear what its position was...setting out the transitional arrangements within the single market, within a customs union," said Sir Keir, speaking at Birmingham's Hotel La Tour.
"You can't get much clearer than that. To say Labour is not clear about the next stage of the journey is not any longer a valid criticism.
"Going into the election we clearly needed to develop our Brexit vision, which is what we did over the summer.
"We have always said we are not particularly wedded to a model over the end. As long as you get to the right result then starting with a pre-defined notion of the model is not helpful.
"It is a negotiation so nobody can say with clarity what will happen in what will probably now be four years down the line."
The MP for Holborn and St Pancras said that he was committed to facing up to the challenge of life outside the EU.
But he said a Labour government would 'reset the negotiating objectives' and 'change the tone and approach to ensure we get the sort of progressive partnership with the EU that we need'.
"That means a collaborating and cooperating," he added.
Sir Keir quit Labour's frontbench 15 months ago, saying the party was going nowhere without a change of leader.
But he now says he was wrong about Jeremy Corbyn.
"I think almost everybody acknowledges that he did a very good job in the election and that the direction of travel of the Labour party is upwards," he said.
"I'm very happy to accept that my judgment call was not right and that I am supportive of our leader and our party.
"I think there is genuine and growing unity, and that's been happening since the General Election.
"The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is much more unified now than at any time since I have been an MP, and our conference showed that we are coming together.
"There is no denying that we are on the way up and the Government are on the way down."
The seminar was hosted by Labour's West Midlands MEP Neena Gill.
