John McDonnell this morning dismissed suggestions that the UK should pay for access to the Single Market after Brexit.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr show this morning, McDonnell shut down the idea, which has been suggested by French President Emmanuel Macron.
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"I don't understand why we would have to pay," McDonnell said. "Does that mean therefore that we would have to charge them to access our market as well? It seems to be a negotiating point rather than reality."
The Labour shadow chancellor said Macron was being "hard-nosed" and that the EU would soften its position when negotiations on the future UK-EU relationship start later this year.
"I actually think there is a deal to be had because it isn’t just the City of London, the financial sector in London benefiting our own country, it benefits Europe as a whole because it brings together the opportunity of investors joining together and investing in Europe as well as Britain," he said.
Michel Barnier, the lead negotiator for the EU, has said that City firms will lose their passporting rights when Britain leaves the trading bloc.
However, business groups have hit back at the idea, and have argued an equivalent scheme to passporting can be achieved as part of a free trade agreement with the EU.