British politics has fallen back into a familiar pattern: its battles and its salvation once again center on Europe. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer knows that the Labour Party’s crushing defeat last week in England’s municipal elections was driven by two very specific fronts: the far right of Reform UK, the party led by Nigel Farage, the politician who did most to secure the triumph of Brexit; and the combined strength of the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats, whose voters remain bitter over the Labour Party’s decision to give up on returning to the European Union.
That’s why Starmer, on Monday, once again promised to rebuild the relationship between London and Brussels, to put the United Kingdom back “at the heart of Europe.”
“I want to remind you what Nigel Farage said about Brexit,” said Starmer in a speech. “He said it would make us richer. Wrong. It made us poorer. He said it would reduce migration. Wrong. Migration went through the roof. He said it would make us more secure. Wrong again. It made us weaker. He took Britain for a ride and, unlike the Tories [who] actually at least have to face up to it, he just fled the scene and now he’ll talk about almost anything other than the consequences of the one policy he actually delivered.”
In recent months, as polls have reflected growing public frustration, Starmer’s government has become less hesitant to denounce the economic and political disaster that was Brexit. Since arriving at Downing Street nearly two years ago, the Labour Party has pledged to work to “reset” the U.K.’s relationship with the EU.
The starting point was cooperation on defence, with a coordinated effort to support Ukraine against the aggression of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Building on that renewed alignment of shared interests, London and Brussels worked on an ambitious new bilateral treaty aimed at repairing the most damaging elements of the Withdrawal Agreement signed by Boris Johnson’s Conservative government.
However, the truth is that the most significant advances of all those promised have so far been only partially delivered. The Labour government has pledged greater regulatory alignment (“dynamic alignment,” in the jargon of the negotiations) with the EU to ease the trade frictions still faced by importing and exporting companies.
And on Monday, Starmer once again promised greater youth mobility between the continent and the island for those under 30, to recover part of the sense of European community that inspired several generations. Similarly, London and Brussels have agreed to revive the Erasmus exchange program, which was lost due to Brexit.
Rhetoric but no progress
All the pro-European rhetoric employed by Starmer in his speech, however, comes with a caveat. The prime minister still refuses to lift the red lines he himself set out in the Labour Party’s election manifesto. There is nothing about possible re‑entry into the EU’s single market and nothing about rejoining the customs union. And when it comes to youth mobility, the Labour government even seems wary of the word itself — “mobility” — preferring instead a vague and softer label: Youth Experience Scheme.
The idea that immigration figures could be inflated by the arrival of students or young workers — despite the fact that such a programme would have nothing to do with migration as such — unsettles a Labour executive that remains convinced it must project a tough stance on the issue.
“If the government wants to regain the trust of the British people, they have to end the cost of living crisis. There is no way of doing that without getting rid of Keir Starmer’s red lines on Europe and fixing the botched Brexit deal, including a customs union. It’s really that simple,” said Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey in response to the prime minister’s speech.
Starmer, at least, no longer rules out a future reassessment of his “red lines,” although his usual caution prevents him from announcing bolder commitments, as many within his party are urging him to do. “What I want to do is take a big leap forward with the EU-U.K. summit this year and take us closer, both on trade, the economy, defence, and security, and that will then be a platform on which we can build as we go forward,” he said.
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