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Britain could stay part of a "reformed single market" and must keep "all the options on the table", Labour's John McDonnell said today, in a further sign the party is pursuing a soft Brexit .

In June the Shadow Chancellor declared keeping single market membership would be "not respecting" the EU referendum result.

But on Sunday Sir Keir Starmer, the Shadow Brexit Secretary, said Britain could stay in "a variant of the single market”.

Asked today which statement he agreed with, Mr McDonnell told the Mirror: "What I said was remaining in the single market would not respect the referendum result.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

"What we’ve been using is the phraseology 'a single market' not 'the single market', and 'a customs union' not 'the customs union'.

"So therefore a reformed single market, or a new negotiated relationship with the single market.

"And Keir was exactly putting our position, that we want to be as close as we possibly can to ensure tariff-free access.

"It isn’t just about semantics, it’s about achieving the objectives we want overall, which is protecting the economy and protecting jobs.

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"That for us means as close a relationship to the single market as we possibly can, and possibly a customs union.

"But the point Keir was making yesterday, which we’ve reiterated time and time again, is we want to keep all the options on the table."

Sir Keir told the BBC on Sunday he wanted “easy movement” of people and suggested Labour would mimic EU rules after 2019.

Sir Keir also refused three times to rule out calling for a second referendum in future, saying: “Things are moving so fast that it’s hard to know what’s going to come next.”