Brexit talks should include free movement, says Keir Starmer

Changes to the freedom of movement of people should be part of the opening of negotiations to leave the EU, Labour's shadow Brexit secretary has said.

But Keir Starmer said maintaining tariff-free access to the single market should be UK ministers' top priority.

He was visiting a manufacturing exporter in Merthyr Tydfil, before talks with First Minister Carwyn Jones.

Mr Starmer said Labour voters were telling the party that it needed to respond to concerns about immigration.

In June's EU referendum, 56% of people in Merthyr Tydfil voted to leave.

Mr Starmer told BBC Wales: "I accept that immigration was a large part of the discussion leading up to the referendum and therefore Labour accepts that changes to the way freedom of movement rules operate have to be part of the opening negotiating position.

"But what we must not do is trade off the economy for immigration, in other words getting your priorities right really matters here.

"What we cannot have is the economy being a second or a third order issue."

Mr Starmer, who has a legal background as the former director of public prosecutions, believes that in December the Supreme Court will uphold the decision of the High Court that Parliament must vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU.

'Hard line'

Asked whether he believed it was possible for the UK to retain tariff-free trade with the single market and introduce controls on immigration, he said: "What I think is really important is that the government aims high.

"My worry is that the government has attached so much importance to immigration that it's not even going to try to get the best access to the single market.

"In other words, it's going to give up before it starts. My sense is that the government is saying 'because we want to take such a hard line on immigration we are going to give up on parts of the argument that would be better for the economy'."

A spokesman for the UK government said: "We will be ambitious in our negotiations and negotiate the right deal, which will include the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market.

"We are also clear that people want to see control of the movement of people into the UK."

After meeting Mr Starmer, Mr Jones said their positions on Brexit were "totally aligned".

"I look forward to working very closely with him over the coming months and years, both to hold the UK government to account for and to press for a deal that supports the priorities of Wales," he added.