It is increasingly clear that a return to the European Union will be a key battleground at the next general election
Published 13th Oct 2026, 06:00 BST
Andy Burnham may have pledged not to ditch Labour’s manifesto ‘red lines’ about joining the European Union’s single market or customs union – saying he wanted to “maintain trust in politics” – but the direction of travel is clear: Britain is moving closer to our democratic allies and most important trading partners.
Emphasising that “the status quo is not good enough” and it would be a “dereliction of duty” for the government not to pursue a more advantageous arrangement with Brussels, the Prime Minister claimed deals currently on the table for a forthcoming UK-EU summit could provide a £10 billion-a-year boost to the British economy by 2040 “with the potential to add significantly more”.
He stressed that “at every stage, the British public will be the boss”, but added that “I am clear that public opinion currently supports a pragmatic approach like the one I am suggesting”.
Populist wreckers are wrong
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s response was weak, suggesting that Burnham was “not going to get a better deal” as “the EU are tough negotiators”. Perhaps if the Conservatives had negotiated more openly and in better faith with the EU, our current Brexit deal would have been considerably better.
Contrary to the views of overly nationalistic populists who are recklessly seeking to wreck international institutions, diplomacy doesn’t always have to be a zero-sum game in which one side must lose, if the other is to win.
Indeed, the period of sustained economic growth in the years since the Second World War is a demonstration of the opposite: countries can agree mutually beneficial deals and free markets, trade and co-operation between states can make us all considerably richer.
Vladimir Putin, among others, hopes to bring about the EU’s destruction, but that’s partly because it is a shining example of international co-operation. It is not perfect, but what is? Despite its various troubles, the EU has been an engine of peace and prosperity for decades, rightly winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.
Labour may not be talking about a return during this parliament, but it’s increasingly clear that reversing Brexit will be a key battleground at the next general election. Europhiles, aux armes.