Keir Starmer contradicts his party’s stance on dreaded Irish backstop

LABOUR’S Shadow Brexit Secretary yesterday said any deal on the table would have a Northern Irish backstop - in direct conflict with a Labour party spokesman.

Asked on the BBC’s Marr show if Labour’s deal would have the hated backstop, Keir Starmer said: “I think at this stage any deal probably does require a backstop, and we’ve got to recognise that.

He went on to say: “There are problems with this backstop, there are risks that are real. But I think because we’re at this stage of the exercise, nearly two years in, the chance now of a deal that doesn’t have a backstop are very, very slim and we’d have to accept that and proceed from there.”

But a Labour party spokesman refused to repeat Sir Keir’s assertion.

The spokesman insisted they “would not fall into it”.

He added: “The only reason a backstop may become necessary is because of the shambles this Government has made of the Brexit negotiations.”

In the same interview Sir Keir said it was “inevitable” Article 50 would have to be extended, keeping Britain in the EU beyond March 29.

He said: “I don’t think we can get what needs to be done in the next 68 days and therefore I think it’s inevitable that Article 50 will have to be extended.”