Keir Starmer has softened Labour’s Brexit position again, telling Newsnight last night that Labour now backed both a customs union and “single market alignment”. He initially says he “doesn’t see it” as taking Corbyn “on a journey” towards ‘Norway Plus’, before going on to say that the UK would “have to consider” allowing the free movement of workers under a Norway Plus plan. A big departure from Labour’s manifesto which explicitly states “Freedom of movement will end when we leave the European Union”…

Whether Starmer can really get the Labour party to “move together” on this latest evolution of their position is another matter. As far back as last June when Labour rebel numbers were normally limited to a handful of three or four, 15 Labour MPs defied the Labour whip (to abstain) in order to vote directly against single market membership. That number would be far higher today with many Northern Labour MPs terrified of losing their seats. As usual it looks like Starmer taking Labour on a journey to nowhere…