Rejoining EU should be ‘long-term objective’ for UK – Scottish Labour leader

Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra has called for the UK to rejoin the European Union – insisting this should be a “long-term objective” for the whole country.

The Labour MSP – who said he wanted “solidarity, not separation” – accepted that “rejoining the EU won’t be easy”.

Mr Marra acknowledged there would be “serious questions” over issues such as currency and borders before the UK could go back into the EU.

Speaking in Edinburgh on Tuesday, he insisted that “difficult is not the same as impossible”.

Mr Marra accepted his call for the UK to go back into Europe goes further than Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s position.

While the UK Labour leader is seeking closer ties with the EU, Mr Marra was clear that “it is in Scotland’s interests, and in the interests of the whole United Kingdom, for the UK to rejoin the European Union”.

Addressing party supporters, the Scottish Labour leader set out how going back into Europe would boost the economy.

Mr Marra said that “breaking down barriers” with European nations would “help Scottish businesses grow, attract investment and create better-paid jobs”.

It could also “help bring down prices and generate more money for our public services”, he added.

Mr Marra accepted that rejoining the EU “won’t solve every problem we have”, adding: “If we’re serious about growth, we cannot keep ignoring the opportunity on our doorstep.”

His speech came ahead of the Prime Minister travelling to Brussels next week where he is expected to sign a series of deals with the EU.

These will be focused on bringing down post-Brexit trade barriers on food and farming, as well as working more closely on emissions trading and making it easier for young people from the UK to work, live and study in Europe, and vice versa.

But Mr Marra said the UK should go further than this and rejoin the EU.

The Scottish Labour leader declared: “The UK should rejoin the European Union and Scottish Labour will work to make that happen.”

Mr Marra added: “I don’t pretend it will happen quickly. But I believe we should set it as a long-term objective for the UK and that Scotland should lead the change in making that happen.”

Noting that the Prime Minister has called for a “a discussion about what Britain’s long-term relationship with Europe should be”, Mr Marra said he was “putting Scottish Labour in the vanguard of that conversation”.

He said: “Rejoining the EU is not the current policy of the UK Labour Party and not the current policy of the UK Government.

“The UK Labour Party isn’t there yet. This is a distinct Scottish Labour position.”

In making the case for going back into Europe, Mr Marra said he was “setting out what I think the best destination is for Scotland and the whole of the UK”.

He said he would “seek to make that positive case and build that consensus” – adding that he has written to the Prime Minister “making the case that rejoining be considered as part of Britain’s longer-term European debate”.

But he said that Labour could “build a case” for rejoining “through honest deliberation and careful compromise”, with Mr Marra telling his party: “We can build a coalition of those seeking change.”

While the SNP want to see an independent Scotland join the European Union, Mr Marra also claimed “the truth is that Scotland’s best chance for re-entering the EU is by the UK rejoining”.

He said: “The SNP tells Scots they must leave one union to join another.

“I’m not asking Scotland to choose. I’m asking Scotland to help bring the whole United Kingdom back into Europe.

“Let’s use one union to join another.”