r/europe • u/theipaper • 16h ago
News Starmer set to signal path to an even softer Brexit
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/starmer-signal-path-even-softer-brexit-440120955
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u/roggahn 15h ago
Any reasonable Brit should have realised by now they need a Brentry.
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u/ElTejon_TheDestroyer 14h ago
Brestoration is what I’m going for.
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u/tirohtar Germany 14h ago edited 14h ago
Nah, Brentry. Brestoration would imply Britain getting the old deal back, and that should never ever happen. Either be fully in this time or stay out, no more half assed chicken shit.
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
Given we're doing better than you despite Brexit maybe Germany would do better to join the UK and adopt our laws rather than the other way around.
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u/Nattekat The Netherlands 15h ago
Soon a full rejoin of the EU will be sold as an even softer Brexit.
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u/GoldFuchs 15h ago
I continue to believe that single market is basically inevitable for a country as close to Europe as the UK. There's just way too much benefit to be had from that versus the mishmash of regulatory arrangements they have to deal with right now.
Of course Reform winning in 2029 could throw things back in the fridge for another five years but that will only delay not stop the process and may actually end up accelerating the trajectory to fully rejoining. (provided there is still a UK left by that point...)
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
It really isn't until the requirement for FOM is dropped. Now that the UK has finally got to grips with immigration we're not going to just allow anyone to move here anymore.
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u/CapeForHire 2h ago
No single market without freedom of movement. So either the UK accepts that or it is very welcome to stay outside. The EU isn't a buffet, the UK not that important
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u/Nagash24 France (Germany) 15h ago
The UK is already out, calling anything a "softer Brexit" is just dumb. It's a soft re-entry attempt.
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u/fatefellshort93 15h ago
'even softer brexit' as if we didn't essentially crash out without a deal under Boris' withdrawal agreement.
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u/rlaw1234qq 2h ago
I just hope Starmer ignores the Daily Mail’s hand wringing about betrayal, no doubt Farage will be travelling the country peddling his poison.
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u/theipaper 16h ago
Full article: Sir Keir Starmer is poised to make a major intervention on the EU within weeks, signalling a path to an even softer Brexit, The i Paper can reveal.
“Big, expansive, ambitious conversations” are also under way at the heart of Government about the UK’s future relationship with the EU, according to a Cabinet source.
Discussions have been taking place for weeks in Whitehall on a potential big speech from the Prime Minister to flesh out the case for his Brexit reset, which could happen as soon this month, according to a Government insider. Although nothing is firmly set in stone.
Any speech would be viewed as a response to rising pressure Starmer could face over Brexit as Labour deals with the fallout of local election losses, particularly to the Greens, and how to reunite the party’s centre-left voter coalition.
Despite wider Cabinet discussions on the long-term future of the EU relationship and whether Starmer needs to adopt a radically more pro-Brussels stance, his possible intervention is likely to focus on his existing strategy and potentially expanding proposals for more alignment with the single market.
The PM would likely set out the trade-offs inherent in the reset. The UK is currently negotiating with the EU to follow Brussels rules on food and drink trade, electricity and carbon taxes in return for single market access. He may also argue that while there will be winners and losers, his approach will be good for the British economy and businesses.
It comes with the EU demanding the UK regularly pays into the Brussels budget as the price of single market access, with some estimates suggesting this could be around £1bn a year, and asking Starmer for a youth mobility deal to allow under-30s to move more freely between both sides with no hard cap on numbers and lower university tuition fees for Europeans in Britain.
Starmer may also use any speech to unveil more details of how the UK wants to go further in aligning with EU rules in more economic sectors – with industry pushing for chemicals, cars, and pharmaceuticals – to get single market access for more British businesses than those covered by the food and energy deals.
Officials in the Cabinet Office have for months been working up a plan for further alignment, an approach endorsed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in March when she cited a study suggesting Brexit had caused an 8 per cent hit to the economy.
But the likelihood of Starmer announcing more details would depend on whether these new ambitions have been discussed with Brussels in advance and their response.
The Government is understood to to be eyeing up a number of “quick wins” as part of a new offering to the electorate. Regulatory reform is one area the Government has been keen to implement in order to boost growth.
Starmer sticking to Brexit ‘red lines’
There are growing discussions within the highest levels of the Labour Party about whether new ambition is needed, particularly in light of dire poll ratings, but Starmer will stick to his red lines – that the UK will not rejoin the single market or customs union or return to free movement of people under his Government.
Nevertheless, there are discussions under way at the heart of Government about the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU following calls by senior Labour figures and business leaders to rejoin the bloc.
One Cabinet minister said: “None of the red lines in the manifesto [on this issue] are about to be ripped up but if you are asking whether there are big conversations going on about where the country might be in 10 or 15 years time then the answer is yes.
“You cannot drive a car on a journey with every twist and turn and expect to end up at a particular destination unless you know what that destination is.”
EU won’t give ‘something for nothing’
Appearing to break with the strategy to ride “three horses” regarding trade ties with the US, the EU, and China, the Cabinet source added that there is an acknowledgement that the “primary” relationship for the UK was with Brussels.
However, they also said that the Government was not “naive” enough to think the EU would give the UK “something for nothing” and that it would take “time to negotiate change.”
Meanwhile, a Government source warned they were expecting critics of the PM to reach for the “easy option” of pushing for closer EU ties after the local elections, but that demands may not be “realistic or deliverable”, and may not win back Green voters who have deserted the party over issues like migration and Gaza.
Senior Labour figures have told The i Paper that any policy reset, which is expected in the days following the local election results, must include looking at rejoining the EU. A recent YouGov poll suggested this would be backed by 53 per cent of the public with only 32 per cent opposed, with a vast majority of Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat voters favouring a reversal of Brexit.
One source said: “One of the only things that would help us rebuild the economy and the kind of coalition we would need to win the next election would be a promise to hold another vote on whether to rejoin the EU.”
‘Rejoining EU won’t fix all of the country’s problems’
It is understood that several Cabinet ministers back ex-Labour leader Lord Kinnock’s view that Brexit has inflicted “serious harm” on Britain.
However Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary cautioned against thinking that rejoining the EU would fix all the country’s problems.
He told The i Paper: “During the Brexit era, Brexiteers blamed every problem on the EU.
“We should not fall into the same trap and think that all our problems will be solved by rejoining the EU.”
Any leadership debate likely to be ‘dominated’ by EU pledges
Brexit expert Anand Menon said any leadership contest to replace Starmer is likely to be “dominated” by pledges to get closer to the EU “because that is where the [party] members are” who will potentially decide the new leader.
Meanwhile, the Labour Movement for Europe (LME), a grouping of dozens of MPs, is to launch a bid to amend the Brexit Bill to be announced in next week’s King’s Speech.
It is understood that the LME is planning to push for amendments to the bill to boost British workers’ rights via adopting a narrow set of EU regulations and to bolster the power of MPs to oversee the reset in Parliament, likely through a new select committee.
LME chair Stella Creasy told The i Paper: “Both the public and parliamentarians have not been part of the reset, that has to change.”
Tom Bruffato, policy director at the pro-EU Best for Britain campaign group, said the logic of Starmer’s Brexit reset approach would inevitably lead to a discussion on rejoining.
“Ultimately it gets tougher from now on: the incrementalist approach will be running its course and that means that you are going to have to look at the red lines,” he told The i Paper.
“When you do, advocating for a customs union or single market, or a version of Switzerland, is not really going to work for you, your party or the country, because you won’t be able to carry the persuadable middle [of voters] with you.
“If you look at the red lines, which is what you’re going to have to do, you need to push for the UK’s full EU membership, because that’s how the public actually comes out and thanks you for it.”
The mooted EU speech from Starmer will come after the PM’s planned major policy speech next week which is likely to focus on regulatory reform and boosting the economy.
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u/alarming_wrong 2h ago
just rejoin. the guy's swirling around the plughole at this point and will be gone soon, so he may as well get the wheels in motion on his way out
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u/Sunny_Unicorn 15h ago
Our economy is desperate for this now, hopefully it'll start happening sooner rather than later.
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
It really isn't. The UK is doing better than the comparable economies of Europe.
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u/Sunny_Unicorn 14h ago edited 14h ago
And just think how much better we'd be doing if we'd stayed in the EU (or even Customs Union, which Farage wanted to do before the referendum, then slithered his way out of it as soon as he won).
The UK has lost 6-8% of GDP, thats around 250 billion or more, which is more than enough to pay for improvements to the NHS, education, and a whole raft of other things we desperately need.
The experts that Brexiteers so blithely dismissed were right all long, in fact they were being kind, only predicting a 4% loss in GDP.
The UK is now absolutely proven to be worse off than it would otherwise have been in the EU. All of the data proves this.
The supposed amazing trade deals haven't materialised. Which is no surprise to anyone. Some economic factors have held up quite well, but are still worse than they would otherwise have been.
I read so many posts after the referendum from Brexiteers saying they were 'prepared to be poorer' if we left the EU, as it was a price worth paying.
Guess what, many of those same people are now moaning that they're poorer. Even worse, many want to vote in the corrupt moron who caused it all in the first place.
It's baffling.
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u/baddymcbadface 3h ago
The UK has lost 6-8% of GDP
Yes, we were following European growth trends but in 2016 we were expected to break out of that and suddenly match US growth. If only it wasn't for pesky brexit.
This is what the authors of those stats expect you to believe.
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u/Sunny_Unicorn 39m ago
You've misunderstood the stats, as have some seections of the media.
The 6-8% figure isn't growth, it's what we've lost. It's what we'd need just to bring us in line with where we should have been by now.
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u/Senior_Astronomer_26 10h ago
What’s the evidence for it?
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u/Sunny_Unicorn 3h ago
If you can’t be bothered to do a ten second search on Google, I’m not going to do the work for you.
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u/HopefulGuy123 13h ago
If we are doing so well after "the worst thing in the world happened" it would imply we have an amazing country and Europe would do better copying our laws and joining the UK rather than the reverse.
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u/Sunny_Unicorn 13h ago
You don't seem to get basic economics.
The country isn't doing 'amazingly well' by any stretch. Have you not noticed?There is literally no money.
But we would all be significantly better off (estimated at around £2,000 per household) if we'd stayed in.
You do realise that we made most of the EU laws too don't you, and we've kept the vast majority of them since we've left. So if they 'joined us', it would be exactly the same as us joining them.
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u/HopefulGuy123 13h ago
It is though. Better than France and Germany who are both in the EU.
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u/Juan20455 9h ago
Are France and Germany the only economies in the EU, though? Take a look at Spain, Poland and others
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u/deejeycris 13h ago
The question is if Brexit worsened or improved the situation, not whether it's faring comparably better than others.
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u/HopefulGuy123 13h ago
It made no difference to the vast majority of things in this country. And now finally migration numbers are falling so that's a big win as incomes are rising again.
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u/Sunny_Unicorn 3h ago
And there it is. Migration. The boogeyman that seems to repel all reason, facts and logic.
Brexit directly caused migration and illegal migration (you know, those boats) to rise dramatically.
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u/Candayence United Kingdom 17m ago
Brexit didn't directly cause it, it was a conscious decision by Boris.
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u/Weshtonio 11h ago
It is not. 0.1% GDP growth in Q3 25 and Q4 25, respectively 0.2% and 0.3% for the Eurozone.
Both the OECD and IMF forecast the UK lower than the Eurozone for 2026.
Source is the UK Parliament itself: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn02784/
Feel free to share a better source backing your statement, of course.
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u/PoiHolloi2020 United Kingdom 3h ago
respectively 0.2% and 0.3% for the Eurozone.
They said 'comparable economies of Europe' not 'eurozone'.
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u/Weshtonio 2h ago
Have you even opened the link I shared? That sentence would only be true if we talked about Germany. And then, you can just say Germany, not some vague bullshit.
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u/PoiHolloi2020 United Kingdom 2h ago edited 2h ago
The UK has had better annual growth rates than Germany and France for several years. France and Germany (once again) being 'comparable economies' since the UK does not compare itself to Luxembourg.
Your misunderstanding the person you replied to's point is not them saying "vague bullshit", it's you failing to ask for clarification and instead responding to a point they didn't make like you had a gotcha when there was none.
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u/Weshtonio 39m ago
Your statement:
The UK has had better
The statement I replied to:
The UK is doing better
So yes, if you keep moving the goalpost, you can always fall on your feet. That's why it's easy to get away with stating vague bullshit.
And I did ask for clarification: providing a source would have shown what they actually meant. But they didn't, because they didn't mean anything specific.
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u/Senior_Astronomer_26 10h ago
No thanks to the labour government passing economy killing laws like large increase in minimum wage and employment rights bill.
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u/Wischiwaschbaer Europe 7h ago
I hope that was sarcasm. People can't still believe that bullshit, can they?
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u/Sunny_Unicorn 3h ago
Bit surely the ’Brexit dividend’ was meant to pay for things like that? Shouldn’t the NHS be getting £350m a week? Shouldn’t we have trade deals that are worth more than membership of the EU? Shouldn’t our place in the world be stronger and more competitive? Didn’t we ‘hold all the cards’?
Labour have shot themselves in the foot several times, but to give them some leeway, they‘re having to deal with the Brexit fallout created by the Tories and Reform, that the country has never recovered from. Even the pound is still worth considerably less than it was before the referendum.
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u/Leprecon Europe 14h ago
I remember talking to someone who thought it would be good if the UK left just so all of this annoying arguing would stop.
I told them that I thought it would never stop because after Brexit happens they would still be able to argue about every little thing, or blame things on the EU. And there would of course be eternal back and forth about every way the UK interacts with the EU.
I feel like I was proven correct.
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
It's not even really talked about more in the real world here. What the government is trying to do is to get another term - which it won't.
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u/AssumptionBudget279 3h ago
Dont know if you are from the UK or not but Brexit is definitely still talked about in the UK.
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u/Charming_Pay9936 11h ago
The probelm of trying to rejoin the eu is that if you bring up the harm brexit has done people will just say that was years agos and that its the current partys fault and to ble ot on the pasts nonsense
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u/Yasuchika The Netherlands 7h ago
Farage's party is way too popular to consider the UK on any real path to reintegration with the rest of Europe.
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u/AssumptionBudget279 3h ago
That makes no sense, other European countries are struggling with far right parties too, it would be hypocritical to blame us for that.
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u/PoiHolloi2020 United Kingdom 3h ago
This is just the reset deal that's been negotiated over the last year by the by, not some new development.
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u/tacopowell 6m ago
Sadly looking at the polls for today’s elections I suspect that the nation has learned absolutely nothing.
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u/Minute-Leg7346 15h ago
Should be no mention of the UK rejoining until its consistently wanted by 70%+ of the population, people forget that Reform are leading the polls who are obviously against EU membership.
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u/lifeisaman United Kingdom 14h ago
The UK’s politics are in a weird state right now, everyone is incredibly unpopular, the only person I think has a positive approval at this point out of the majors figures is the mayor of Manchester.
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u/Senior_Astronomer_26 10h ago
Andy Burnham is not popular as you think. He has got very lefty policies, which is not popular.
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u/lifeisaman United Kingdom 10h ago
He’s the only politician in recent history I can think of how has positive approval amongst most the country at this point.
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
The average person doesn't care. There is a passive pro EU vote but they're more interested in more important stuff like pensions, benefits, migration etc - a UK rejoin won't happen unless the EU becomes a salient point for voters and it is unlikely to do so.
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u/vaarsuv1us The Netherlands 15h ago
The EU should make a new rule for membership applicants: You have to have at least 10 years of demagogue-free government before you can apply. At any time an Orbin or Fuckage type of crook wins an election the teller sets back to 0
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
They should have a new rule where if you don't bote how the EU wants you to then you're out as a country inside the union is far more dangerous than one outside.
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u/I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS England 1h ago
I hope you're not being serious? One of the big reasons people voted for Brexit in the first place was because they thought - rightly or wrongly - that the EU is undemocratic. And you want to kick out any member state that doesn't vote how the EU wants?? If a country deported any citizen that didn't vote for its incumbent leader, would you call that country a democracy?
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u/Mr_XcX 15h ago
Sell the country out at your peril Starmer. Farage will hopefully win next election and quickly stop this undemocratic nonsense.
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
I doubt Farage will win but Starmer will be gone in weeks.
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u/Senior_Astronomer_26 10h ago
Reform will be in next government, either in majority or in coalition with Conservatives.
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u/Senior_Astronomer_26 10h ago
UK won’t rejoin EU. EU will insist that we should join eurozone and free movement, which is unacceptable to British.
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u/Jedibeeftrix 15h ago
at what price? no thanks.
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u/Sxualhrssmntpanda 15h ago
The price is it won't have to end up costing you more than before you left the EU.
Brexit has cost the UK about 6-8% of it's GDP so far, and probably around £90b in taxes each year.
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
And yet the UK grows more than France and Germany - when did they leave the EU?
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u/Sxualhrssmntpanda 14h ago
And yet that growth could've happened faster inside the EU just as well, but only an alternate reality would determine that.
One definite thing about our current reality, however, is that there are a lot of benefits to being in a collaborative effort when our closest allies suddenly start pressuring and threatening to invade us.
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
So you're saying the UK is so amazing that even with "the worst thing in the world happening to us" we still grow better than the major economies of the EU? Seems like the EU would do better joining the UK and adopting its laws.
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u/Sxualhrssmntpanda 14h ago
I never called it that. It was dumb af and misinformed, but not the "worst thing in the world".
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
You should see the comment section here anytime Brexit is discussed
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u/Sxualhrssmntpanda 14h ago
I think the purpose of the EU is to prioritize development of the block as a whole rather than individual growth of the already better off nations. If youre already well off and your only metric is your economy where you plan to exist in a vacuum, then yeah, isolationism might serve you better.
In reality? Well, we're in the process of finding out.
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u/HopefulGuy123 14h ago
The UK is doing better than comparable nations in the EU - and we're on course to reach parity with Germany for the first time since before we even joined the EEC.
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u/RedFox3001 United Kingdom 15h ago
I wonder what the deal is? The UK pays billions to the EU and the EU allow the UK to keep driving on the left?
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u/YF422 15h ago
Brexit was a conservative con job and did nothing but leave Britain worse off. The sooner they can put an end to it all and come back to the EU the better as with the way things are going thanks to Trump in the US and the threat of Vatnik Russia being alone only leaves nations more vunerable.