Wes Streeting’s Brexit play may be clever gamesmanship – but it has nothing to do with Europe |
Brexit, it seems, is back. Or at least back within the Labour party. Wes wants to be back in (at some point). Andy once said there’s a case, but seems to have changed his mind. Nigel, meanwhile, warns of betrayal.
On one hand, this is all terribly predictable. Winning any Labour leadership race was never going to be possible without staking out a clear and ambitious position on the EU. Most Labour members are remain backers who regret leaving Europe. Even before the beginning of a formal contest, we were always going to see those vying for the top job try to outbid each other.
Andy Burnham’s decision to run for parliament is an additional wrinkle. Makerfield is a leave-backing constituency, and Reform UK are Labour’s main opponents, so revealing ambitious plans to move closer to the EU would be incredibly high risk. Hence yesterday’s switch to a more sceptical stance.
All of which gives Wes Streeting an additional reason to go big on Europe. The hope, presumably, is that Burnham is either driven to say something that makes the people of Makerfield less likely to vote for him (which Burnham seems to be avoiding), or that he is forced to adopt a position that makes members of the Labour party less likely to vote for him (which seems to be the chosen direction).
While Burnham navigates that bind, Streeting says as little that commits him to actually........