Labour MP Chuka Umunna calls for Britain to tighten EU immigration controls following Brexit

FORMER SHADOW Minister Chuka Umunna last night became the latest Labour big-gun to say immigration controls should top EU single market membership in Brexit talks.

In a startling U-turn the ex-Shadow Business Secretary said free movement rules blamed for sky-high immigration into the UK “clearly” should take priority.

He insisted he wanted Theresa May to go “full throttle” to retain single market membership as well as regaining border controls from Brussels.

But he said: “If continuation of free movement we have is the price of single market membership then clearly we couldn’t remain the single market.”

He explained that he believed with the migrant chaos in Europe, other member states may soon be more willing to accommodate Britain’s demands for more flexibility on border controls.

The statement comes just months after Mr Umunna – a key Remain campaigner - mocked Vote Leave’s comments during the EU Referendum campaign about leaving the single market.

In April he posed in front of a banner which said: “The Leave Campaign Wants Us to Quit The Single Market and Be Like ‘Albania’. Seriously.”

But his latest views mark a growing change among ‘moderate’ Labour MPs following the bombshell Brexit vote – which revealed huge numbers of working class Labour voters backed ‘Out’.

Former Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Monday said ending free movement should be a red line in Brexit talks – adding that Labour had ignored the effects of immigration for too long.

Speaking of the doomed Remain campaign, the pro-EU MP said: “A failure to acknowledge voters’ legitimate concerns on immigration meant we didn’t earn the right to be heard on other issues.”

Yesterday former Shadow Education Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said immigration had to be dealt with. He also argued that campaigning for a second referendum “would be seen as an insult to a lot of voters”.