Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has dropped his pledge to bring back freedom of movement with the EU if elected Prime Minister.
The Brexit trade deal signed by Boris Johnson, which came into effect on December 31, would be the “treaty that an incoming Labour government inherits and has to make work,” he told Andrew Marr.
Asked about freedom of movement, he said: "I don't think there's an argument for reopening those aspects of the treaty.
"We have a treaty, it's a thin treaty, it's not what was promised. But I'm very conscious of the fact that everything I'm doing, everything the Labour Party is doing is focused on winning an election in 2024.”
He also said that he did not think “there is a case for rejoining the EU”, and that the British people would expect a Labour government to make Mr Johnson’s trade deal “work”.
During last year’s Labour leadership contest Sir Keir pledged to "defend free movement as we leave the EU”, and promised to bring back the policy if elected.
The u-turn is likely to cause friction with the party’s membership, which tends to support freedom of movement, as well as some of his own MPs.
Last week former shadow minister Rosie Duffield claimed that the “majority” of her fellow Labour MPs still hoped the UK would one day rejoin the EU.
Speaking on HuffPost’s Commons People podcast, the MP for Canterbury said: "Most people on the front bench who voted for this deal last week did it with a very heavy heart.
“They haven't given up either.”
However, Ms Duffield conceded that it was not a short-term project.
"We will try and shift the leadership, as and when it needs to shift towards rejoining I would imagine,“ she said.
“Possibly we might even have a different sort of set up, a different leader by then, who knows.
“We’re not talking in the next five years realistically.”
