Shadow Brexit Secretary visits the North East

The Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Sir Keir Starmer, was in Sunderland today (September 13) giving his views on the current situation in Westminster.

The former director of public prosecutions also heard from local businesses at an event organised by the North East England Chamber of Commerce to try and get a better idea of the current mood in the business community for what politicians should do next.

He was keen to stress that there was no easy way forward, with both Parliament and the Government unable to reach an agreement or articulate a clear vision of our future relationship with the EU.

He said: “We have a number of routes open to us at the moment but none of them are straight forward. The views I hear from businesses is that they want to stay close to Europe economically.

“It is so frustrating that we are having to spend all this time discussing Brexit when there are so many major issues we need to tackle, such as investment in infrastructure, the NHS and social care.”

James Ramsbotham, chief executive at the Chamber, “We are very grateful to Sir Keir Starmer making time to hear our members’ views on Brexit and business conditions in the North East.

“Our view is that we want a Brexit outcome that preserves our trading relationship with the EU.”