PUBLISHED: 22:32, 12 July 2024 | UPDATED: 23:22, 12 July 2024
As MPs swore their allegiance to the King in the Commons this week, Sir Keir Starmerlooked on approvingly at the record intake of 231 Labour newcomers. Strikingly, nearly a quarter of them had been endorsed by a Socialist group dedicated to overturning Brexit.
The hugely influential Labour Movement for Europe (LME) — its president is the former EU commissioner and Brussels fanatic Lord Kinnock who was warmly embraced by Starmer at his choreographed arrival in Downing Street last week - not only supports re-joining the EU but also backs the return of free movement of people, which would potentially open the door to millions more migrants.
Moreover, it supports a common defence policy for all EU countries, which would be the first step to a European army. Starmer - who, remember, demanded a second referendum on Brexit - has insisted that the UK will not rejoin either the EU, the single market or the customs union within his lifetime.
But can we take him at his word? Because many prominent members of the LME are now in a very strong position to persuade him to change his mind. Starmer's new chief whip in the House of Lords, Lord Kennedy, is a patron of the LME for example.
Liam Conlon, the new MP for Beckenham and Penge who has been endorsed by the LME, is the son of Sue Gray. (To be endorsed the website states they must be a 'fully paid-up member' of the society and 'uphold and promote the values and vision of the LME'.)
She, of course, is Starmer's influential Downing Street chief of staff and former 'impartial' senior civil servant whose excoriating Partygate report triggered the downfall of Boris Johnson.
Gray shares her son's passion for all things EU.
An even more influential new MP endorsed by the LME, potentially, is Imogen Walker who won the Scottish constituency of Hamilton and Clyde Valley with a 9,000 majority.
A former actress, she is married to Morgan McSweeney, the No 10 head of strategy and Labour's former director of campaigning, who is seen as the most powerful figure in Starmer's operation.
McSweeney, 47, himself a passionate Europhile, ran Starmer's leadership campaign and masterminded the general election which consigned the Tories to their worst defeat in modern history. His desk is outside Starmer's No 10 study.
As one senior Labour source said: 'Morgan has such an aura of power you have to resist the temptation to genuflect when he walks before you.
'Morgan and Imogen are a formidable political couple. If she backs the Labour Movement for Europe, which wants to take us back into the EU, so does he. Which tells you everything about Starmer's agenda. Starmer and McSweeney think as one.'
The new intake of MPs in the LME make no secret of their contempt for Brexit and its supporters.
Take Kirith Entwistle, MP for Bolton North East which voted Leave, who said in 2019: 'Some free life advice, which I plan to take myself: don't spend your Saturday following developments on Brexit. You deserve to live your life. Maybe. Unless you voted Leave.'
Steve Race, the newly elected MP for Exeter, whom Starmer described as an 'excellent candidate', is an unapologetic champion of returning to the EU.
'I wanted to remain, I campaigned to remain, I would like to see us rejoin in my lifetime... I will make the case within the Labour Party and continue to make the case in the country... '
Another LME member is Lord Livermore, the newly appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury, who is also campaigning to go back. Bizarrely, he argues that because London didn't vote for Brexit, it should seek independence from the UK so it can remain part of the EU.
'Independence for London within the EU should now be our goal. We would have a GDP twice as large as Singapore.' But it is not just these 50 or so new entrants who are endorsed by the LME.
The organisation has at least 80 more MPs on its books in addition to them and is already pushing its agenda on the new government. And don't forget that in Starmer's Cabinet every MP voted to Remain and 11 of them demanded a second referendum.
The LME, which boasts on its website that it's the 'only pro-EU society affiliated to the Labour Party', is quite simply determined to overturn Brexit and will take every opportunity to influence events as the new government embarks on its plan for 'closer ties' with the EU.
This determination to cuddle up to Europe was there for all to see on Starmer's trip to Washington this week for the Nato summit, his first official overseas visit as PM. He was accompanied by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, who is so passionate about the EU he likened hardline Brexiteers to Nazis and white supremacists.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Paymaster General, whose brief includes EU relations and Brexit, was also in the official party.
Starmer held a one-to-one meeting with Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, on the margins of the Nato summit where he called for the 'widest possible co-operation' between the two countries. With Thomas-Symonds, he also met Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish prime minister.
But these meetings were just the start. Next week, more than 40 senior representatives of European countries will meet at Blenheim Palace, hosted by Starmer, who will put his plans to 'improve' Boris Johnson's Brexit deal to French, German and EU leaders. Were he still PM, Rishi Sunak would have used the gathering at Churchill's Oxfordshire birthplace to discuss illegal migration.
But Starmer intends to seize the opportunity for an extensive renegotiation of Britain's free-trade deal with the EU - despite the fact that experts warn nothing can be extracted from the EU without paying a price in exchange, such as accepting free movement or financial penalties.
One senior figure in the Remain movement who has strong links to Labour, told me the EU is a huge issue for the new government.
'The easy, low-hanging fruit will be picked off first such as a security pact,' a senior figure said.
(Ahead of the Washington summit, Starmer said he thought 'there is scope for a significant improving of our defence and security relationship with the EU. I think this is complementary with Nato.')
The senior figure also said: 'They are also looking at signing up to EU rules in sectors like agriculture, food and chemicals.'
He added: 'The Government will junk the Boris Brexit deal, although free movement may be too much. The problem will be if we get much closer to the EU, and they start dictating rules because we are outside the EU, the Government will have no power to influence any rules and regulations. Then there will be a huge push back from the Tories and Nigel Farage.'
And yet the LME wants Starmer to go much further. Its mission statement could not be clearer about why free movement of people has to be brought back.
'From fruit pickers and the fishing industry to scientists, artists and doctors, the freedom to work is not only essential for the UK economy, it also allows our citizens to work around the world.
'To help ensure all can access these opportunities, especially those in our creative industries and service sectors, Labour could commit to negotiating a new visa and passport system, and securing a Visa Waiver Programme which could ensure greater mobility for our citizens and protect their future job opportunities.'
It goes on: 'The whole of the UK deserves the opportunities [that] access to the single market, a customs union and working with Europe offers. . . Membership of the EU was a proven engine for progress and social justice for the people of the UK. The EU is a bulwark against regressive governments, and over-mighty corporations.'
In short, there is no doubt that whatever Starmer says now, the LME will keep up the pressure on Labour to rejoin the EU. Only in September Richard Corbett, one of its vice presidents, declared: 'It's not too late for them (politicians) to change their mind, it's in their own electoral interests and in the national interest for them to do so. Join me in getting that message across.'
As one Labour source told me: 'They want action now and will demand a vote on it.'
The sheer size of the LME, which is chaired by arch-Remainer MP Stella Creasy, already makes it a formidable force within Parliament. And the arrival of dozens more hardline, LME-endorsed Remain MPs makes that prospect more likely by the day.
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