What has Keir Starmer said about Brexit? Labour leader's U-turns from second referendum to 'no case to rejoin'

In 2018, Sir Keir Starmer made his position on Brexit very clear: "I was very disappointed by the outcome and if there was another vote I would vote to remain in."

Ahead of the general election in 2019, as Labour's Shadow Brexit Secretary, he campaigned for a second referendum. However now, as leader, he has made it very clear there is "no case for going back into the EU and that includes the single market and the customs union".

This is despite a huge majority of Labour members and supporters being in favour of rejoining the EU. A recent YouGov poll found that seven in 10 Britons support a closer relationship with the EU while 57% want the UK to rejoin the single market.

Yet Starmer is clearly scared of fighting another Brexit election in 2019, which Boris Johnson won comfortably. So with all this in mind, we take a look at everything the Labour leader has said on the EU.

'If there was another vote I would vote to remain in'

In 2018, as Shadow Brexit Secretary, Starmer showed he wanted to remain in the EU - but at this point he was hesitant about a second referendum. He told the Observer: "I campaigned to stay in the EU. I voted to stay in the EU and I was very disappointed by the outcome. And if there was another vote I would vote to remain in.

"Having asked the electorate for a view by way of the referendum, we have to respect the result. If you find yourself in a position you would rather was not there, you have to make it work. We have to do that for the current generation and for future generations."

'Brexit is bad for trade, bad for public services, bad for workplace rights'

In June 2019, Starmer reiterated his opinion on Brexit. He said a hard Brexit – “bad for trade, bad for public services, bad for workplace rights” – was a best case scenario under Boris Johnson, and, failing that, a no-deal Brexit, “which is even worse".

Starmer appeared to soften on the idea of a second referendum, saying: "I think we will very soon say openly that we want to campaign for remain. But I want to do it as one. If we are going to go to a second referendum, it can only be done by making a very bold offer to the country at large of how we are genuinely going to transform the lives of those millions of people – who voted to leave but also to remain – for whom the status quo is not working.”

'An in-coming Labour government will legislate immediately for a referendum'

A year after saying you "have to respect the result" of Brexit, Starmer has changed his mind. At the Labour conference in 2019, he said: "I can announce that an in-coming Labour government will legislate immediately for that [EU] referendum to take place.

"I have a very simple message today: If you want a referendum – Vote Labour. If you want a final say on Brexit – Vote Labour. If you want to fight for Remain – Vote Labour. Labour will let the people decide. Conference, you know where I stand on the question of Remain: I’ve said many times that I will campaign for it. But I profoundly respect those who take a different view.”

'Labour should argue for return of free movement'

In the Labour leadership contest in 2020, Starmer - who was hoping to get elected by a via pro-EU party membership - said Labour should support the return of freedom of movement. He said: “We need to make the wider case on immigration.

“We welcome migrants, we don’t scapegoat them. Low wages, poor housing, poor public services, are not the fault of people who come here: they’re political failure. So we have to make the case for the benefits of migration; for the benefits of free movement."

'I don't accept the argument that if [Brexit] isn't working you go to a referendum'

In January 2021, Starmer is now Labour leader and on the Andrew Marr Show he moves away from the policy of a second referendum. He said: "I accept that the status quo isn’t working and I don’t accept the argument that if the status quo isn’t working the next thing you do is to go to a referendum. I think that there are other things that you can do, other arguments that can be made in support of the United Kingdom."

He also ruled out a return of freedom of movement, saying "I don’t think that there’s scope for major renegotiation" of the Brexit treaty.

'With Labour Britain will not go back into the EU'

In July 2022, Starmer makes clear that he now does not want to rejoin the EU. He said that any debate around a second referendum would be to “look back over our shoulder”. He added: “So let me be very clear: with Labour, Britain will not go back into the EU. We will not be joining the single market. We will not be joining a customs union.”

'I couldn't disagree with case Leave voters made to me'

In his 2023 New Year's speech, Starmer said during the referendum he struggled to disagree with what Leave voters were saying. He said: "I go back to Brexit. Yes, a whole host of issues were on that ballot paper. But as I went around the country, campaigning for Remain, I couldn’t disagree with the basic case so many Leave voters made to me.

"So we will embrace the 'take back control' message but we'll turn it from a slogan to a solution. From a catchphrase into change. Even in those turbulent years, 2016 to 2019, I was always making the argument that there was always something very important sitting behind that leave vote.

"That phrase 'take back control' was really powerful, it was like a Heineken phrasing, got into people. And the more they ask themselves, do I have enough control, the more they answer that question, no."

'We don't want to diverge from EU'

In more mixed messaging from Starmer, in September he said that Labour did not want the UK to diverge from the EU. He told a conference in Canada: "Most of the conflict with the UK being outside of the [EU] arises insofar as the UK wants to diverge and do different things to the rest of our EU partners ...

"Actually we don't want to diverge, we don't want to lower standards, we don't want to rip up environmental standards, working standards for people at work, food standards and all the rest of it." He later says that "there's no case for going back into the EU and that includes the single market and the customs union".

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.