Keir Starmer has famously set out his six tests that would have to be met for Labour to support an EU exit deal negotiated by the Conservative government.

The tests seek to mitigate against the assumed negative consequences of leaving the EU through calling for the preservation of a strong and collaborative relationship with the EU (test 1), the “exact same benefits” as we currently have as members of the single market and customs union (test 2) and the defence of current rights and protections (test 4).

It is notable that Labour’s support for a deal is contingent on it not diverging from the pre-exit status quo. None of the tests is framed positively, in terms of ensuring that the deal leaves the UK free to act outside the constraints and requirements of single market and customs union membership.

Starmer is only pressing the government in one direction — to stay as close to the EU as possible — and this could help the Tories to use the deal as a means of tying the hands of a future radical Labour government through the continued application of neoliberal EU-level rules and laws to the UK.