IN the debate around Labour’s position on Brexit, siren voices on the left assert the single market — sometimes called the EU internal market — does not prevent governments creating nationalised industries and utilities.

For example, when French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced a temporary renationalisation of the “STX France” shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, blocking Italian firm Fincantieri’s takeover of France’s military infrastructure for warship and aircraft carrier construction, some opponents of Brexit hailed the move as evidence that the EU is neutral on the question of nationalisation versus private ownership of industry.

However, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire went to great lengths to make clear the intervention to protect French strategic naval interests was “a temporary decision, to give us time for better negotiations and a good agreement.”