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So here's the long awaited Labour position on Brexit. Let's talk about what Customs Union plus strong single market provisions might mean shall we?
Speculating a little, I'm guessing Labour's plan is for as much single market alignment as the EU will give the UK to avoid a hard border in Ireland but without the UK signing up to Freedom of Movement.
The Withdrawal Agreement already lists the EU regulations they believe are necessary to avoid a hard border in Ireland, so we guess they would apply to the whole UK, which plus Customs Union should mean frictionless trade. But, and this is going to be a biggie...
Even if the EU would allow frictionless trade in goods, the UK is almost certainly not going to get any formal say outside of the formal EEA structures - because we'd be trying to split the four freedoms again. And also no services (Ireland excepted)
Here's the really clever bit. The Government's plan signs us up for a backstop of UK Customs Union plus Northern Ireland following single market regulations for goods, and the UK voluntarily following these anyway. Pending technology (potentially years)...
Labour's plan is for permanent Customs Union plus the UK following single market regulation for goods. In other words the Labour proposal is a carbon copy of the what the Government's proposal would de facto become...
At this point you can recognise the uniqueness of a political solution where the opposition's alternative plan to a Government plan defeated by 230 is in fact the same plan. Doubtless Labour sources will say it will be totally different, but so far it doesn't sound like it...
Let's see if we get more detail on the Labour plan, this is to a degree speculative, but we know the EU's red lines, they don't change with Prime Minister, they change with real change in the UK position /end
