IN OUT, IN OUT
Labour leader wannabe Jess Phillips says she could campaign to REJOIN EU after Brexit
LABOUR leader wannabe Jess Phillips today admitted she could campaign to REJOIN the EU after Brexit.
The MP for Birmingham Yardley - who has thrown her hat in the ring to replace Jeremy Corbyn - insisted she could win the contest.
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But she said that despite living in a Leave-backing seat, she still believed that Remaining in the EU was the best thing for the country.
She vowed to "wait and see" what the situation was like after Brexit before making a call.
Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, she said: "As somebody who has a leave seat but campaigned for remain, I thought it was the best thing for the people.
"I am not going just to just change my mind on that."
She added: "You would have to look at what was going on at the time.
"If it's safer, more economically viable, to be in the EU, I will fight for that, regardless of how difficult that argument is to make."
Brexit Party MEP Rupert Lowe slammed her comments.
He said: "If the next Labour leader goes into any election backing ‘rejoin’ then they have learnt absolutely nothing.
"They just sacrificed their working-class support and look where it got them. Let’s hope they’re stupid enough to go for it!"
Ms Phillips' words are in sharp contrast to her rival for Labour's crown, the Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer.
He said on the same programme that the party had to admit that Brexit was going to happen, and abandon its policy for a second referendum.
Millionaire Sir Keir, who fought for Labour to back a second Brexit vote, and has said before he wants Britain to stay in, said "the argument has to move on and we the Labour Party need to accept that Leave/Remain, that divide, goes in a few weeks time".
He told the Marr Show: We are leaving. We will have left the EU.
"This election blew away the argument for a second referendum, rightly or wrongly, and we have to adjust to that situation."
The frontrunner's policy of sitting on the fence and deciding what to do later was widely seen as one of the main reasons Labour lost so badly in last month's snap election.
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Sir Keir joins Emily Thornberry, Lisa Nandy and Clive Lewis in the fight to become Labour leader after Mr Corbyn steps down.
Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey and Labour's chairman Ian Lavery are also expected to enter the race.
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