Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, is positioning himself to potentially become the UK’s first truly post-Brexit prime minister by advocating for the country to rejoin the European Union’s customs union. This treaty removes tariffs on all goods exchanged among EU member countries. It seeks to cut bureaucracy in the UK’s relationship with its European partners. Starmer thinks that most of the public wants as little change and chaos as possible in their interactions with the EU.
Importantly, the 2016 referendum marked a fundamental shift in the nature of the UK’s relationship with the EU. It ignited years of fierce debate and negotiation. The Labour Party’s strategy marks a significant shift with the decision to keep Starmer at arm’s length. They first committed to seek an “alternative arrangement” to the current Brexit deal in their 2019 general election manifesto. This is a bold step, reflecting that public mood on Brexit is changing. Most citizens today would choose a focus on economic stability and make trade easy over a hard pledge to separate from the EU.
As it stands now, the Tory party has been quite outspoken about the deal struck with the EU, calling it a “surrender.” In particular, they focused their advocacy on stopping harmful provisions such as the 12-year extension of perpetual fishing quotas. They pointed to the UK’s stated willingness to mirror EU rules on agriculture. These criticisms signal an increasing concern among the party’s liberal wing. They fear, as we all should fear, the ways that this deal, in particular, threatens British sovereignty and economic independence.
Starmer’s bet depends on the assumption that Brexiteers’ days are numbered. He argues that a lot of the public is much less interested in ideological arguments over the subject of EU membership but rather, they care about practical results. Though political discourse is toxic and deeply partisan, the Labour leader is trying to ride this wave of discontent to change the conversation about Brexit.
The Liberal Democrats aren’t particularly troubled by this and are instead happy to note what they describe as “some positive first steps” in the current Brexit framework. They call on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to be more ambitious in his deal-making with the EU. Instead, they are calling for much greater ambition so that we can land a much better deal for British interests. This shows an ongoing divide on the approaches to take with Brexit.
Meanwhile, Reform UK, the successor to both the Brexit Party and UKIP, echoes similar sentiments about redefining the UK’s relationship with the EU. This party’s emergence illustrates that Brexit remains a central theme in British politics, despite efforts from some leaders to move beyond it.
Debates over the terms of the Brexit deal continue. This has dropped questions about the overall future UK-EU relationship back into the center of the political life. Yet the outcome of these discussions will have major ramifications. They have the power to create a new paradigm for their trade relations and bring their regulatory approaches closer together.