LABOUR have given up all hope of rejoining the EU. At least, that’s what Keir Starmer has said.
Doubling down on Brexit damage, the party leader has even ruled out rejoining the single market or customs union and childishly accused the EU of "nicking our dinner money".
But Labour campaigners in Rutherglen and Hamilton West – the Westminster by-election sparked by Margaret Ferrier’s removal as an MP by recall petition – don’t need to worry about anything so trivial as what their leader’s been saying.
That will explain why Labour candidate Michael Shanks is campaigning to join Starmer’s Westminster group of MPs, while also pledging to oppose him on issues like the two-child benefit cap.
The inconsistency has become something of a pattern for Labour campaigners – as eagle-eyed social media users spotted one had been out on the trail sporting a distinctly anti-Brexit slogan.
“Britain is better off with Labour in Europe,” their clipboard said, alongside contact information including the website eurolabour.org.uk.
But unfortunately for Scotland, that slogan is hopelessly out of date.
I see Labour canvassers in the Hamilton by-election seem confused about their party’s policy on Europe. So very Scottish Labour. One message on the doorstep. But not the leadership policy. So tell voters the truth. Labour is now a hardline Brexit party….. pic.twitter.com/LQK8v4cXPs
— JOHN NICOLSON M.P. (@MrJohnNicolson) August 31, 2023
As SNP MP John Nicolson noted: “I see Labour canvassers in the Hamilton by-election seem confused about their party’s policy on Europe. So very Scottish Labour. One message on the doorstep. But not the leadership policy.
“So tell voters the truth. Labour is now a hardline Brexit party …”
That pro-Europe Labour slogan is in fact so out of date that the website advertised alongside it has been left defunct – and subsequently taken over by some less savoury offers.
Instead of being the official website for the European Labour party and sporting banners such as “Save the NHS from a Tory Brexit”, eurolabour.org.uk is now apparently dedicated to “Euro Sex Dating”.
The site does reviews of “the best sex apps" that you can "use to hookup with local girls” …
If you believe that, you may also believe what Labour had on the website beforehand.
It previously stated: “There is a clear danger that everything from employment to consumer rights to access to the Single Market are at risk following the vote to leave the EU, and that is why we will be campaigning hard, and pressing the Tory government to ensure British citizens continue to have these rights."
How did that go?
