Increasingly, the question of the Brexit bill is looking like the biggest single obstacle to the talks’ smooth progression. Meanwhile, back in WestminsterUntil this week, Labour’s Brexit position could have been politely described as pragmatic ambiguity. Starmer said in April that single market membership was “incompatible with our clarity about the fact that freedom of movement rules have to change”, while Jeremy Corbyn sacked several frontbenchers in June for supporting a backbench Queen’s speech amendment on remaining in the single market. In seeking clarity for its own position, Labour has surely forced clarity from the government. The new distinction is not between hard Brexit and soft Brexit: it is between infantile Brexit and grownup Brexit.

Source: The Guardian August 29, 2017 14:03 UTC