Labour Ready For Euro Talks, Says Cook
The Shadow Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has said that Labour is ready to "hit the ground running" in key negotiations with Britain's European partners.
With a united party and a strong leader, Labour could "negotiate from a position of strength", said Mr Cook, who is likely to be appointed Foreign Secretary in a Blair government.
"We have a great asset to offer Britain in place of a Government with a weak leader and a divided party, we have a strong leader - Tony Blair's leadership is overwhelmingly the major reason we have secured this great result - and a large working majority in the Commons," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
His comments come in advance of next month's Amsterdam European summit and crucial decisions on enlargement and the extension of qualified majority voting.
"We have sought a mandate to sign the Social Chapter. We got that mandate overwhelmingly, which reflects the fact that the people of Britain want a Social Chapter because they don't see why Britain should have the worst rights of work of any country in Europe," he said.
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