Shadow cabinet minister Barry Gardiner in another row after branding Labour's Brexit policy 'b******s'

A shadow cabinet minister has branded a key Labour Brexit policy “b******s”, according to reports.

Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner dismissed the party’s demands for the exact same benefits afforded by membership of the single market after Britain leaves the European Union.

In a recording obtained by the BBC of comments about the six tests Labour has set for the Brexit deal, Mr Gardiner reportedly said: “Well let’s just take one test – the exact same benefits. B******s. Always has been b******s and it remains it.

“We know very well that we cannot have the exact same benefits and actually it would have made sense – because it was the Tories that said they were going to secure the exact same benefits – and our position should have been to say they have said they are going to secure the exact same benefits and we are going to hold them to that standard.”

The comments come after Mr Gardiner already had to apologise for controversial comments he made about the Irish border row.

Labour insisted Mr Gardiner “fully supports” the party’s position on Brexit. A spokesman said: “Labour has set six tests for the final Brexit deal. Those include holding the Government to its own commitment to deliver the same benefits as the single market and customs union.

“We have been clear that, if those tests are not met, Labour will not back it in Parliament. Barry Gardiner fully supports that position.”

BREXIT DEVELOPMENTS – MORE ON YAHOO UK:

Article 49: What is it and how can it reverse Brexit after the UK leaves the EU?
How the ‘Brussels Effect’ will continue to run Britain’s economy long after Brexit
How will Brexit affect your finances in 2018?
Facebook widens probe into Russian influence on Brexit vote
Second vote not undemocratic, Irish PM says on Brexit

Asked what he would do over Mr Gardiner “denouncing” Labour policy, Jeremy Corbyn said: “Barry Gardiner does not denounce our Brexit policies.

“We have had a conversation with him. It’s quite clear he does support our strategy of holding the Government to account on the tests that have been put forward.”

The latest row comes after a recording of a question and answer session at a think tank event in March emerged where Mr Gardiner suggested the Good Friday Agreement – which marks its 20th anniversary – was outdated.

Former Labour Northern Ireland Secretary Lord Hain criticised the shadow international trade secretary as “unbelievably ignorant and irresponsible” while Labour former shadow Northern Ireland secretary Owen Smith said his remarks were “reckless”.

Former prime minister Tony Blair told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t know how anyone can say that. It’s the only basis upon which you’re going to have peace.”

Mr Gardiner was heard in a recording suggesting the Brexit row over the border issue and the accord had been “played up” and he described the deal as a shibboleth – a Hebrew term used to describe a long-held custom that is outdated.

In the recording, obtained by The Red Roar website, he was heard saying: “We must also recognise there are real economic reasons why people have played up the issue of the Irish border and the need to have the shibboleth of the Good Friday Agreement.

“That is because it is hugely in the Republic of Ireland’s economic interest to make sure there is no tariff and no external border there.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Gardiner said: “Labour is completely committed to the agreement and opposed to any return of a hard border between north and south.

“We are committed to negotiating a new customs union between the UK and Ireland as part of a final Brexit settlement, which would play a key role in ensuring there is no hard border.

“I am deeply sorry that my informal remarks in a meeting last month have led to misunderstanding on that point – in particular, that my use of the word ‘shibboleth’ in its sense of ‘pass word’ or ‘test of membership’ gave the impression that I thought the Good Friday Agreement was in any way outdated or unimportant. I absolutely do not.”

Mr Corbyn said the Good Friday Agreement was a “defining moment in Irish history” which allowed peace to prevail.

He added: “There must be no return to a hard border between north and south, and no return to the horrors of the Troubles. All of us on both sides of the Irish Sea have a responsibility to maintain hope for the future.

“The history of Ireland is a great teacher of oppression and brutality, imagination and poetry. For Irish communities everywhere – including in my own constituency – the Good Friday Agreement will always embody their hopes for peace and justice. We must cherish and learn from it for the future.”