LONDON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Britain's main opposition Labour Party opened up a clear divide with Theresa May's ruling Conservatives Sunday by announcing a dramatic shift in its Brexit policy.
The party's Brexit shadow secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Labour would seek a transitional deal that maintains the same basic terms that Britain currently enjoy with the European Union.
"That means we would seek to remain in a customs union with the EU and within the single market during this period. It means we would abide by the common rules of both," said Starmer in a keynote article published in the Observer newspaper.
Starmer said a transitional continuation of membership beyond the March 2019 departure date would be as short as possible but as long as necessary, but would also mean accepting the free movement of labour, possibly until around 2023.
Starmer said prime minister May's "ideological obsession with leaving the European customs union and the European single market during a transitional period means the options to deliver a good deal for Britain are diminishing fast.
He said "The fanciful and unachievable proposals put forward in the government's recent customs paper show the colossal risks it is willing to take with British jobs and the economy."
Labour says its new Brexit policy is in stark contrast to what the International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond explicitly ruled out a fortnight ago when they stated that Britain would be outside the customs union and the single market in any transitional phase.
"Labour rejects that as an unnecessary and highly risky path to take," said Starmer whose intervention comes just 24 hours before Britain and the EU open their new round of Brexit negotiations Monday.
Starmer said that by remaining inside a customs union and the single market in a transitional phase Britain would be certain that goods and services could continue to flow between the EU and the UK without tariffs, customs checks or additional red tape.
"There would be no need to set up complex alternative customs or trading relations. Given that UK-EU combined import/export trade totaled 553 billion pounds (713 billion U.S. dollars) last year, this certainty would be hugely advantageous for British businesses and consumers," said Starmer.
He said it would not provide a durable or acceptable long-term settlement for Britain or the EU and would not provide certainty for either party. It would also leave unresolved some of the central issues the referendum exposed, in particular the need for more effective management of migration, which Labour said it recognised must be addressed in the final deal.
"That is why a transitional period under Labour will be as short as possible, but as long as is necessary. It cannot become a kind of never-ending purgatory. That would simply create its own uncertainty and ambiguity," said Starmer.
The general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Frances O'Grady welcomed Starmer's announcement.
She said: "Labour are clearly the grown-ups in the room. This is a sensible and reasonable approach to take. Sticking with our current deal during the transition will give working people certainty on their jobs and rights at work. Keeping all options on the table is the best negotiating strategy. The government were wrong to rule out staying in the single market, it's time for them to reverse gear."
Reports in the media quoted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's office as saying the proposals had been agreed with Corbyn and were official party policy.
