‘The battle isn’t over!’ Remain-backing Labour frontbencher suggests UK should rejoin EU
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Alex Sobel, 46, appeared to go further than Sir Keir Starmer’s commitment to “build on” Boris’ Brexit deal when he suggested to attendees of a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference that the UK should rejoin the EU. Mr Sobel, who became an MP in 2017, told members at the event hosted by the Labour Movement for Europe and Labour for a European Future: “There are new battles to fight.
“The battle isn’t over.
“The battle is just beginning.
“This is a battle for our children’s future and the future of our continent.”
Mr Sobel joined the Labour Party frontbench as the Shadow Minister for Tourism shortly after Starmer was elected as party leader in April 2020.
The Shadow Minister also told members attending the ‘Brexit isn’t working: What can Labour do?’ event in Brighton that warnings made by Remain campaigners “are now coming to pass”.
Sobel said: “The food is missing from the shelves of the shops.
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“The petrol stations are having fuel shortages.
“Chefs are missing from restaurants.
“All of those things we talked about and we were told we were scaremongering, we were told that none of it would happen and it is all happening one by one by one.”
The 46-year-old added: “And so we need to make those arguments publicly.
“When people see there’s a problem it’s my responsibility in the press and media and social media and all the rest of it to say: this is due to the terrible Brexit deal that has been rushed through without any need.
“And then it will start dawning on them that it’s a bad deal, and then we can start talking about what a good deal looks like, and what the best deal looks like – and we all know what the best deal is – and that’s how we can win this battle.
“And I don’t think that’s a job for this year or the next two or three years, this is a long-term project and we’ve got to be in it for the long-term.”
The Leeds North West MP has long been an advocate of remaining in the EU.
Shortly after Britain’s voted decisively to leave the bloc in 2016, he took to Twitter to say: “What a disaster this Brexit vote is not just for our Country but the Planet.”
During his time as an MP, Sobel vowed to oppose the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal and demanded the public be granted a second referendum.
Despite the Shadow Minister’s claim that the UK’s current problems are connected to Brexit, figures show other nations have been hit with shortages in HGV drivers.
There is an estimated shortage of around 400,000 drivers across the mainland continent, including 40,000 in Germany alone.
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The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has even suggested Brexit has been “part of the solution” to the lorry driver shortage.
Speaking to Sky News on Friday, Mr Shapps argued: I’ve seen people point to Brexit as if it is the culprit here. In fact, they are wrong.”
The Welwyn Hatfield MP added: “Not only are there very large and even larger [driver] shortages in other EU countries like Poland and Germany – which clearly can’t be to do with Brexit – but actually because of Brexit I’ve been able to change the law and alter the way our driving tests operate.
“Brexit actually has provided part of the solution of giving more slots available for HGV tests and there are a lot more – twice as many – tests available now than before the pandemic.
“A large proportion of those we’ve only been able to do because we are no longer in the EU.”
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