Chuka Umunna MP speaks sense on Britain’s membership of the Single Market
This morning, Chuka Umunna spoke for many when he was interviewed on Radio 4’s Today programme.
The Labour MP commented:
We’re saying from the point of view of London where you’ve got over 600,000 jobs that are linked to our membership of the Single Market, whether you voted to Remain or Leave, you didn’t vote to be poorer.
Our membership of the Single Market was not on the ballot as it were, during that EU Referendum campaign. We’re saying that yes you can be outside of the European Union and be in the Customs Union, like Turkey for example and you be outside the European Union and in the Single Market like Norway.
You can actually reform the ways freedom of movement works within that context. For example, at the moment there’s one thing that we don’t do that could do now under free movement rules – which have never, by the way, been unconditional. So, for example, if somebody comes here, and they’ve been here for three months, they haven’t got work, and there’s no prospects of that, they can be asked to leave. We don’t do that at the moment.
And there are counties in the Single Market like, for example, Lichtenstein who have actually been able to apply quotas to the number of EU citizens coming. So, I don’t accept this kind of binary explanation of how things work.
We can actually stay in the Single Market, have the benefits it brings but also reform the way our immigration arrangements work.
Yesterday, Umunna was joined by sixteen general election candidates to launch a pamphlet called Stop Hard Brexit: Why London needs the Single Market. He should be saluted for this bold move and for his wise words today also.