Labour needs an ‘honest debate’ about Brexit damage, union warns

Unless Britain develops a closer relationship with the EU it will continue to haemorrhage investment and jobs, says the GMB

The leader of one of the country's biggest unions has urged Labour to conduct an honest debate" about the economic damage being caused to working people by Brexit, as evidence grows that it is fuelling inflation and driving jobs and investment abroad.

In an interview with the Observer, Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB union, which is one of Labour's biggest financial backers, giving more than 1m a year, said politicians of all parties had been too afraid to admit the adverse consequences that leaving the EU was having on jobs and life in working communities.