U.K. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn gives a General Election speech at the Carnegie Conference Centre on April 24, 2017 in Dunfermline, Scotland | Mark Runnacles/Getty Images Labour will scrap May’s Brexit plan, put economy first Party would guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK ‘on day one.’

LONDON — A Labour government would scrap Theresa May’s EU exit plan and focus on “retaining the benefits of the single market” for the sake of the economy, the party’s Brexit spokesman said Tuesday.

The party would also guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the U.K. “on day one,” Keir Starmer said, as Labour seeks to win over pro-EU voters with a distinctive election pitch on Brexit.

Although May’s Conservatives have a commanding lead in the polls, Labour has come under pressure to clarify how a potential Jeremy Corbyn-led government would differ in its approach to Brexit.

“A Labour government will set out a new Brexit strategy,” Starmer, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for leaving the European Union, said.

The party would scrap the government’s Brexit white paper — the policy document setting out May’s negotiating aims — and replace it with “fresh negotiating priorities that reflect Labour values,” Starmer said. “The White Paper will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the single market and the customs union as Labour know that is vital to protecting jobs and the economy.”

Starmer has argued in the past that the U.K.’s single market membership will inevitably “lapse” upon leaving the EU. However, he has pledged that his party will not support any deal with the EU that does not deliver “the exact same benefits” as membership of the internal market.

Starmer pledged that a Labour government would unilaterally guarantee the existing rights of around 3 million EU citizens living in the U.K. May has pledged to protect the rights of these citizens, but has refused to make a declaration without securing a similar commitment from EU countries on the rights of British citizens in the EU27 member countries.

“EU nationals do not just contribute to our society: they are our society. And they should not be used as bargaining chips,” Starmer said.

“So on Day One of a Labour government we will immediately guarantee that all EU nationals currently living in the U.K. will see no change in their legal status as a result of Brexit, and we will seek reciprocal rights for U.K. citizens in the EU.”

Starmer also committed Labour to a new EU Rights and Protections Bill, to replace the government’s Great Repeal Bill. The shadow Brexit secretary said that such a bill would “make sure that all EU-derived laws — including workplace laws, consumer rights and environmental protections — are fully protected without qualifications, limitations or sunset clauses.”

The move reflects concern within the Labour party that the Conservatives will use the Great Repeal Bill process to water down EU-enshrined rights and standards. The government has claimed such regulations would be protected or strengthened.

Labour are fighting on two fronts in the Brexit debate, with May’s hard Brexit stance likely to woo many Labour voters who backed Leave, while the centrist Liberal Democrats aim to pick up Labour Remain voters with their pledge to keep the U.K. in the single market.