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Sir Keir Starmer must not use re-entry into the EU as a “red herring” to distract Britons from his government’s “abject failures”, a shadow minister has warned.

Saqib Bhatti MP urged Brexiteers to assemble to fight against Labour’s attempts to fling the UK back into the EU’s orbit.

Writing in the Daily Express, he said: “Labour is going to take us back into the EU by the back door, Brexiteers need to assemble.

“As Labour drives our economy into the ground, weakens our national security and fails to control our borders, it is becoming ever clearer that Sir Keir Starmer will use re-entry into the EU as a red herring to distract us from his government’s abject failures.”

Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Boris Johnson have all added their support to the crusade at a time when Sir Keir cosies up to the Bloc.

Mr Bhatti said: “The Express are right to push for a proper Brexit. Red tape needs to be slashed to help get the economy growing. Our waters need to be protected to help revitalise our fishing industry and we should leave the ECHR to help end vexatious legal claims by left-wing immigration lawyers.”

This week senior EU official Valdis Dombrovskis said the European Commission would be “open-minded” to discussing closer trade ties with the UK, including a customs union.

Speaking after talks with ministers this week including Chancellor Rachel Reeves in Londo, Dombrovskis implied the UK would not be able to pick and choose areas of the single market for closer alignment.

Ms Reeves argued stronger ties are increasingly important as “we are sliding towards a world where the rules are less clear”.

Sir Keir has said Britain should “get closer” to the single market as he reiterated his support for tighter relations with the EU.

This is despite a manifesto promise not to rejoin the EU single market or customs union.

It comes as Business Secretary Peter Kyle is set to head to Brussels in the coming days to dissuade the EU from shutting Britain out of its proposed “Made in Europe” initiative.

The scheme would tighten procurement rules to favor EU companies, potentially locking British firms out of key European supply chains.

A Labour source: “Labour doesn’t want to re-enter the EU – we believe in Brexit and want to make Brexit work. The Tories were so ideologically opposed to any form of relationship with Europe and that was to the detriment of the UK’s interests. We’re delivering a new deal that is good for our borders, good for people’s bills and good for jobs.”