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1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 122 (from laksa141)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa122.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/all-the-signs-that-labour-wants-to-undo-brexit-4304484\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/all-the-signs-that-labour-wants-to-undo-brexit-4304484\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/all-the-signs-that-labour-wants-to-undo-brexit-4304484","crawl_time":1774875308,"first_indexed_time":1773923450,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"uk,co,inews!\/news\/politics\/all-the-signs-that-labour-wants-to-undo-brexit-4304484 s443","src_root_hash":"13967717487639038922","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"All the signs that Labour wants to undo Brexit","meta_descriptions":["The Government says it will not rejoin the customs union or single market, but senior figures have been pushing for closer ties with the EU","Impartial news & intelligent debate"],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Britain is approaching 10 years since it voted to leave the European Union in a razor-thin referendum – but the debate over what comes next for the UK’s relationship with the bloc persists.\nSadiq Khan has said that UK membership of the EU is “inevitable” and has called on the Government to commit to rejoining the customs union and single market before the next general election, expected in 2029.\nThe Government’s official position remains that it will not do so.\nBut a pattern of ministerial language and mounting internal pressure has prompted questions about whether that position can hold.\nStarmer once campaigned for a second referendum\nAs shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer argued in 2019 that Labour should campaign to Remain in a second referendum. Since leading Labour to a majority at the 2024 general election, he has ruled out seeking to rejoin the EU.\nIn January this year, the Prime Minister also told the BBC that the UK should consider “even closer alignment with the single market” where it was in the national interest. He said: “That needs to be considered on an issue-by-issue, sector-by-sector basis.”\nThe Government said at the time the remarks represented no change in policy.\nReeves said following EU rules should be ‘the norm’\nChancellor Rachel Reeves\nargued in her Mais lecture at Bayes Business School this week\nthat where it was in the national interest, the UK should be “prepared to align with EU regulation, including in further areas of the single market”.\nShe said regulatory independence should be “the exception, not the norm.” Treasury sources confirmed the Government is “looking at more alignment” with the bloc across “several sectors”.\nReeves insisted she was not trying to “turn back the clock” on Brexit but to build a “new and stable future relationship” with Brussels, and acknowledged she would have to “make and win the political argument”.\nCabinet ministers have stopped ruling out a customs union\nBusiness Secretary\nPeter Kyle told\nThe i Paper\nin Brussels last month that\n“the debate about [the customs union] needs to be engaged with”.\nBut he warned that going back into the trading bloc would take years and would not prove “the quick fix that some people think it is”, noting that Turkey’s own accession to the arrangement took decades.\nIn December, Health Secretary Wes Streeting also told the\nObserver\nthat the customs union could have “enormous economic benefits” for the UK.\n“The best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU,”\nhe added.\nStreeting ruled out a “return to freedom of movement”, but his comments appeared to leave the door open to the idea of a customs union-type agreement.\nStarmer’s chief economic adviser Minouche Shafik\nhas also reportedly advocated internally for closer EU ties\n. In the run-up to the Budget, she is understood to have made the case for rejoining the EU’s customs union to deliver a boost to British exporters.\nKeir Starmer meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: Omar Havana\/AP)\nLabour mayors are calling for a full customs union return\nTracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, returned from a trade delegation to Germany and Switzerland this year\ncalling for Britain to go further on Europe\n.\n“If we\nare serious about growth, we must be braver about our relationship with Europe,” she told\nThe i Paper\n. “That means a customs union relationship with the EU.”\nAndy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, made the same argument at the Labour Party Conference last year.\n“I do think you call out what has put the country in this position,” he said, arguing the UK should rejoin the trading bloc. “The growth is not there as it once was.”\nKhan went further still this week, saying the damage of Brexit was visible “on a daily basis” and that rejoining the\nEU was a matter of when, not if.\n“I think it’s inevitable — the direction of travel at some stage we’re going to rejoin the European Union,” he said.\nLabour leadership candidates are staking out softer Brexit positions\nWith big losses expected at May’s local elections,\nLabour insiders told\nThe i Paper\nthat potential leadership candidates are already sounding out Brexit experts and positioning themselves on Europe ahead of a possible contest.\nA Labour insider said contenders from “across the board” of the party’s factions are considering moving closer to the EU, amid fears that the Government’s reset is too incremental to deliver growth or win back votes.\n“There\nis a fairly clear consensus across the party that Brexit hasn’t worked, that voters can see it hasn’t worked, and that the Government’s ‘reset’ isn’t going to give us nearly enough growth or credit with voters,” the insider said.\nBut not everyone in Labour agrees\nDeep divisions remain within the party. Even among pro-European Labour MPs, a customs union does not command unanimous support.\nOne told\nThe i Paper\nthe “real prize” was a relationship modelled on Switzerland — a patchwork of sector-by-sector deals —\nrather than a formal customs union\n. “Wes will regret going for customs union as it’s a lot of pain for\nlittle gain,” they said.\nA “Red Wall” Labour MP accused Streeting of raising the issue to burnish his leadership credentials. “He knows what he’s doing — playing to the membership,” they said.\nReform UK has also pledged to unpick any closer alignment with the EU if it wins power, and the party is consistently polling ahead of Labour.\nWhat the Government has already done — and where it is stuck\nThe UK is now an active member of Horizon Europe,\nthe EU’s flagship research and innovation programme\n, which it had left as part of the Brexit settlement and then rejoined before Labour took power.\nIn December,\nit also agreed to associate\nwith Erasmus+ from 2027\n— the student exchange scheme that allows young people to study abroad for up to a year, and which the Conservative government had declined to rejoin on cost grounds.\nBut further progress has proved harder. The first is money — the EU wants the UK to contribute financially to reducing economic disparities between EU regions\nas the price of entry to its internal energy market\n.\nThe second is tuition fees. EU negotiators want European students in the UK to pay domestic rates — a move that\ncould cost UK universities up to £580m\n, according\nto modelling shared with\nThe i Paper\n.\nThe third is the fundamental tension. David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said Brussels would push for “more on mobility and more on financial contributions “\nin return for any closer arrangement\n. “Britain is still trying to cherry-pick,” he said.","attrs_markdown":"arrow\\_upward [Skip to content](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/all-the-signs-that-labour-wants-to-undo-brexit-4304484#content)\n\n![](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/inews-theme\/assets\/images\/menu-search-icon.svg) Menu\n\nIMPARTIAL NEWS + INTELLIGENT DEBATE\n\n[Subscribe](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/subscribe?tpcc=1for3_subscribe_button&ico=button_header_subscribe \"subscribe\")\n\n[Login](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/my-account\/settings?ico=signup_account_icon \"My Account\")\n\n![](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/inews-theme\/assets\/images\/account-icon.svg) Account\n\n- [News](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/news)\n- [Politics](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/news\/politics)\n- [Opinion](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/opinion)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/culture)\n- [Money](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/inews-lifestyle\/money)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/sport)\n- [Live Well](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/inews-lifestyle)\n- [Perspectives](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/perspectives)\n- [Puzzles](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/puzzles)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/my-account\/newsletters?ico=signup_header)\n\n[Login](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/my-account\/settings?ico=signup_account_icon \"My Account\")\n\n[Subscribe](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/subscribe?tpcc=1for3_subscribe_button&ico=button_header_subscribe \"subscribe\")\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/)\n  ![](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/inews-theme\/assets\/images\/chevron-down.svg)\n- [News](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/news)\n  ![](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/inews-theme\/assets\/images\/chevron-down.svg)\n  - 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MAY 19: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference at the UK-EU summit at Lancaster House on May 19, 2025 in London, England. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hosting leaders from the European Union for the first UK-EU Summit since Britain's withdrawal from the EU in January 2020, to discuss plans for resetting the UK's relationship with the bloc. The Labour government has said it will deliver a stronger partnership with the EU, \"strengthening our alliances and closing deals in the interests of British people.\" According to the European Council, the meeting will also be an opportunity for the leaders to reaffirm a joint commitment to peace and security in Europe. (Photo by Carl Court\/Getty Images)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_282878639_3ad86f.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1200px%2C677px&resize=1200%2C675)\n\nKeir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, are leading plans for resetting the UK's relationship with the bloc (Photo: Carl Court\/Getty)\n\n[![Avatar for Eleanor Langford](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/I-Paper-Bylines-Eleanor-Langford-19158-copy.jpg?w=155&h=155&crop=1)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/author\/eleanor-langford)\n\n[Eleanor Langford](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/author\/eleanor-langford)    \n  Political Reporter\n\nclose Cancel   email\n\nlink   share Share   bookmark Save\n\nGift this article free\n\nMake someone think\n\nShare this story from The i Paper - and spark a conversation. Gift up to 10 articles a month to a friend, so they can read for free\n\n[Subscribe now](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/subscribe)\n\nBritain is approaching 10 years since it voted to leave the European Union in a razor-thin referendum – but the debate over what comes next for the UK’s relationship with the bloc persists.\n\nSadiq Khan has said that UK membership of the EU is “inevitable” and has called on the Government to commit to rejoining the customs union and single market before the next general election, expected in 2029.\n\nThe Government’s official position remains that it will not do so.\n\nBut a pattern of ministerial language and mounting internal pressure has prompted questions about whether that position can hold.\n\nNew Feature\n\n## In Short\n### Quick Stories. Same trusted journalism.\n[![](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cropped-Cover-Template-New-2026-03-30T085248.076.jpg?w=640)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/shorts\/trump-kharg?utm_source=theipaper&utm_medium=shorts_card&utm_campaign=shorts_&short_id=4324819)\n\n[![Fuel Shortages – March 30](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cropped-Cover-Template-New-2026-03-30T085252.143.jpg?w=640)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/shorts\/fuel-shortages-march-30?utm_source=theipaper&utm_medium=shorts_card&utm_campaign=shorts_Fuel+Shortages+-+March+30&short_id=4324902)\n\n[![Brits Jailed – 30 March](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cropped-Cover-Template-New-2026-03-30T085256.706.jpg?w=640)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/shorts\/brits-jailed-30-march?utm_source=theipaper&utm_medium=shorts_card&utm_campaign=shorts_Brits+Jailed+-+30+March&short_id=4324943)\n## Starmer once campaigned for a second referendum\nAs shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer argued in 2019 that Labour should campaign to Remain in a second referendum. Since leading Labour to a majority at the 2024 general election, he has ruled out seeking to rejoin the EU.\n\nIn January this year, the Prime Minister also told the BBC that the UK should consider “even closer alignment with the single market” where it was in the national interest. He said: “That needs to be considered on an issue-by-issue, sector-by-sector basis.”\n\nThe Government said at the time the remarks represented no change in policy.\n\n## Reeves said following EU rules should be ‘the norm’\nChancellor Rachel Reeves [argued in her Mais lecture at Bayes Business School this week](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/reeves-sign-uk-reverse-damage-brexit-4299906?ico=in-line_link) that where it was in the national interest, the UK should be “prepared to align with EU regulation, including in further areas of the single market”.\n\nShe said regulatory independence should be “the exception, not the norm.” Treasury sources confirmed the Government is “looking at more alignment” with the bloc across “several sectors”.\n\nReeves insisted she was not trying to “turn back the clock” on Brexit but to build a “new and stable future relationship” with Brussels, and acknowledged she would have to “make and win the political argument”.\n\n## Cabinet ministers have stopped ruling out a customs union\nBusiness Secretary Peter Kyle told *The i Paper* in Brussels last month that [“the debate about \\[the customs union\\] needs to be engaged with”.](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-talk-rejoining-eu-customs-union-business-secretary-4260461?srsltid=AfmBOooPXPzuydXleumhoGRE0xsGAIwt7V-EWdKCtg_rcn6atL4tz-rP&ico=in-line_link)\n\nBut he warned that going back into the trading bloc would take years and would not prove “the quick fix that some people think it is”, noting that Turkey’s own accession to the arrangement took decades.\n\nIn December, Health Secretary Wes Streeting also told the *Observer* that the customs union could have “enormous economic benefits” for the UK.\n\n“The best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU,” he added.\n\nStreeting ruled out a “return to freedom of movement”, but his comments appeared to leave the door open to the idea of a customs union-type agreement.\n\nStarmer’s chief economic adviser Minouche Shafik [has also reportedly advocated internally for closer EU ties](https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=site%3Ainews.co.uk+Minouche+Shafik+EU&sca_esv=6b914df0baae36ea&biw=767&bih=695&sxsrf=ANbL-n4K15HSCYhnurW1jq295tbfiasotw%3A1773921451822&ei=q-S7afT0Mf2EhbIPyP6OsQY&ved=0ahUKEwi09vqv9KuTAxV9QkEAHUi_I2YQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=site%3Ainews.co.uk+Minouche+Shafik+EU&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiI3NpdGU6aW5ld3MuY28udWsgTWlub3VjaGUgU2hhZmlrIEVVSLoIUABYjgVwAHgAkAEAmAFioAHIAqoBATS4AQPIAQD4AQL4AQGYAgCgAgCYAwCSBwCgB7QBsgcAuAcAwgcAyAcAgAgA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp). In the run-up to the Budget, she is understood to have made the case for rejoining the EU’s customs union to deliver a boost to British exporters.\n\n![FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.(AP Photo\/Omar Havana, File)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_276007621.jpg?w=760)\n\nKeir Starmer meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: Omar Havana\/AP)\n## Labour mayors are calling for a full customs union return\nTracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, returned from a trade delegation to Germany and Switzerland this year [calling for Britain to go further on Europe](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/labour-mayors-starmer-turn-customs-union-4292069?srsltid=AfmBOoq-CstkBTZy-xFQvgiEMV1eGMawxdzOI1ryF4H1dUgqOIdcbbEj&ico=in-line_link).\n\n“If we are serious about growth, we must be braver about our relationship with Europe,” she told *The i Paper*. “That means a customs union relationship with the EU.”\n\nAndy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, made the same argument at the Labour Party Conference last year.\n\n“I do think you call out what has put the country in this position,” he said, arguing the UK should rejoin the trading bloc. “The growth is not there as it once was.”\n\nKhan went further still this week, saying the damage of Brexit was visible “on a daily basis” and that rejoining the EU was a matter of when, not if.\n\n“I think it’s inevitable — the direction of travel at some stage we’re going to rejoin the European Union,” he said.\n\n## Labour leadership candidates are staking out softer Brexit positions\nWith big losses expected at May’s local elections, [Labour insiders told *The i Paper*](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/starmers-leadership-rivals-plotting-softer-brexit-4115238?ico=in-line_link) that potential leadership candidates are already sounding out Brexit experts and positioning themselves on Europe ahead of a possible contest.\n\nA Labour insider said contenders from “across the board” of the party’s factions are considering moving closer to the EU, amid fears that the Government’s reset is too incremental to deliver growth or win back votes.\n\n“There is a fairly clear consensus across the party that Brexit hasn’t worked, that voters can see it hasn’t worked, and that the Government’s ‘reset’ isn’t going to give us nearly enough growth or credit with voters,” the insider said.\n\n## But not everyone in Labour agrees\nDeep divisions remain within the party. Even among pro-European Labour MPs, a customs union does not command unanimous support.\n\nOne told *The i Paper* the “real prize” was a relationship modelled on Switzerland — a patchwork of sector-by-sector deals — [rather than a formal customs union](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/labour-split-reversing-brexit-4128952?ico=in-line_link). “Wes will regret going for customs union as it’s a lot of pain for little gain,” they said.\n\nA “Red Wall” Labour MP accused Streeting of raising the issue to burnish his leadership credentials. “He knows what he’s doing — playing to the membership,” they said.\n\nReform UK has also pledged to unpick any closer alignment with the EU if it wins power, and the party is consistently polling ahead of Labour.\n\n## What the Government has already done — and where it is stuck\nThe UK is now an active member of Horizon Europe, [the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/science\/horizon-programme-what-uk-rejoining-eu-science-research-project-how-affect-you-2600331?srsltid=AfmBOoqi3yA15oq1_pbMARo-kiB4jicN63GWA59asz-m109CjeTf__qM&ico=in-line_link), which it had left as part of the Brexit settlement and then rejoined before Labour took power.\n\nIn December, [it also agreed to associate with Erasmus+ from 2027](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-on-course-rejoin-erasmus-student-exchange-january-2027-4097493?srsltid=AfmBOor_AKLclS7jsd1XcmzXl7GBbVK-jbDWIC4MLPr9vd36bV0tsMjO&ico=in-line_link) — the student exchange scheme that allows young people to study abroad for up to a year, and which the Conservative government had declined to rejoin on cost grounds.\n\nBut further progress has proved harder. The first is money — the EU wants the UK to contribute financially to reducing economic disparities between EU regions [as the price of entry to its internal energy market](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-brexit-showdown-eu-electricity-bills-4119750?srsltid=AfmBOooKcs0DKmo5ToN3Hj0j1tdifeUxQXrr7aVAW_FkgAdIF_Mel_Qi&ico=in-line_link).\n\nThe second is tuition fees. EU negotiators want European students in the UK to pay domestic rates — a move that [could cost UK universities up to £580m](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/brexit-cost-uk-universities-cheaper-fees-4202185?srsltid=AfmBOooNpM0sOWbc8wxVAqFSm8NH3tKpUSX3J9ajfZQcHyFDJK4rTgmi&ico=in-line_link), according to modelling shared with *The i Paper*.\n\nThe third is the fundamental tension. David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said Brussels would push for “more on mobility and more on financial contributions “[in return for any closer arrangement](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/seven-reasons-reversing-brexit-happen-4130551?srsltid=AfmBOor_4MTFz6vKTos-pSvh5WIDFBtEt8llGHgouEEE8589VgosblWY&ico=in-line_link). “Britain is still trying to cherry-pick,” he said.\n\nclose Cancel   email\n\nlink   share Share   bookmark Save\n\nGift this article free\n\nMake someone think\n\nShare this story from The i Paper - and spark a conversation. Gift up to 10 articles a month to a friend, so they can read for free\n\n[Subscribe now](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/subscribe)\n\n## EXPLORE MORE ON THE TOPICS IN THIS STORY\n[Brexit](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/topic\/brexit \"Brexit\")\n\n[Brexit Deal](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/topic\/brexit-deal \"Brexit Deal\")\n\n[EU](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/topic\/eu \"EU\")\n\n[European Union](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/topic\/european-union \"European Union\")\n\n[Keir Starmer](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/topic\/keir-starmer \"Keir Starmer\")\n\n[Politics Explainer](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/topic\/politics-explainer \"Politics Explainer\")\n\n[Wes Streeting](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/topic\/wes-streeting \"Wes Streeting\")\n\n## Read more about Politics\n[![Article thumbnail image](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_289009532.jpg?w=1200&h=675&crop=1)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/eu-uk-pay-access-electricity-brexit-reset-4325571 \"EU to force UK to pay up to access cheaper electricity under Brexit reset\")\n\n[square POLITICS](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/news\/politics \"Link to: POLITICS\")\n\n## [EU to force UK to pay up to access cheaper electricity under Brexit reset](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/eu-uk-pay-access-electricity-brexit-reset-4325571 \"EU to force UK to pay up to access cheaper electricity under Brexit reset\")\n\n3 min read  bookmark\n\n[![Article thumbnail image](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_288779826.jpg?crop=0px%2C42px%2C1200px%2C678px&resize=1200%2C675)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/home-office-plan-harder-migrants-settle-backed-by-voters-4324060 \"Home Office plan to make it harder for migrants to settle in UK is backed by voters\")\n\n[square POLITICS](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/news\/politics \"Link to: POLITICS\")\n\nExclusive\n## [Home Office plan to make it harder for migrants to settle in UK is backed by voters](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/home-office-plan-harder-migrants-settle-backed-by-voters-4324060 \"Home Office plan to make it harder for migrants to settle in UK is backed by voters\")\n\n3 min read  bookmark\n\n[![Article thumbnail image](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_287319946_ab8237.jpg?crop=0px%2C98px%2C1920px%2C1083px&resize=1200%2C675)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-races-stop-iran-rebuilding-weapons-stockpiles-war-risks-economic-crisis-4324058 \"Race to stop Iran rebuilding weapons stockpiles as war risks economic crisis\")\n\n[square POLITICS](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/news\/politics \"Link to: POLITICS\")\n\n## [Race to stop Iran rebuilding weapons stockpiles as war risks economic crisis](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-races-stop-iran-rebuilding-weapons-stockpiles-war-risks-economic-crisis-4324058 \"Race to stop Iran rebuilding weapons stockpiles as war risks economic crisis\")\n\n4 min read  bookmark\n\n[![Article thumbnail image](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_248800844.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1200px%2C677px&resize=1200%2C675)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-collision-course-eu-brexit-visas-under-30s-4316277 \"UK on collision course with EU over Brexit visas for under-30s\")\n\n[square POLITICS](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/news\/politics \"Link to: POLITICS\")\n\nExclusive\n## [UK on collision course with EU over Brexit visas for under-30s](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-collision-course-eu-brexit-visas-under-30s-4316277 \"UK on collision course with EU over Brexit visas for under-30s\")\n\n4 min read  bookmark\n\n## Most Popular\n[square OPINION](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/opinion \"Link to: OPINION\")\n\n[EMILY MAITLIS](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/author\/emily-maitlis \"Link to: EMILY MAITLIS\")\n## [The real reason Trump always chickens out](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/opinion\/the-real-reason-trump-always-chickens-out-4314990 \"The real reason Trump always chickens out\")\n\n5 min read  bookmark\n\n[square NEWS](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/category\/news \"Link to: NEWS\")\n\n## [Doctors in the UK gave me two years to live. 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Since leading Labour to a majority at the 2024 general election, he has ruled out seeking to rejoin the EU.\n\nIn January this year, the Prime Minister also told the BBC that the UK should consider “even closer alignment with the single market” where it was in the national interest. He said: “That needs to be considered on an issue-by-issue, sector-by-sector basis.”\n\nThe Government said at the time the remarks represented no change in policy.\n\n## Reeves said following EU rules should be ‘the norm’\nChancellor Rachel Reeves [argued in her Mais lecture at Bayes Business School this week](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/reeves-sign-uk-reverse-damage-brexit-4299906?ico=in-line_link) that where it was in the national interest, the UK should be “prepared to align with EU regulation, including in further areas of the single market”.\n\nShe said regulatory independence should be “the exception, not the norm.” Treasury sources confirmed the Government is “looking at more alignment” with the bloc across “several sectors”.\n\nReeves insisted she was not trying to “turn back the clock” on Brexit but to build a “new and stable future relationship” with Brussels, and acknowledged she would have to “make and win the political argument”.\n\n## Cabinet ministers have stopped ruling out a customs union\nBusiness Secretary Peter Kyle told *The i Paper* in Brussels last month that [“the debate about \\[the customs union\\] needs to be engaged with”.](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-talk-rejoining-eu-customs-union-business-secretary-4260461?srsltid=AfmBOooPXPzuydXleumhoGRE0xsGAIwt7V-EWdKCtg_rcn6atL4tz-rP&ico=in-line_link)\n\nBut he warned that going back into the trading bloc would take years and would not prove “the quick fix that some people think it is”, noting that Turkey’s own accession to the arrangement took decades.\n\nIn December, Health Secretary Wes Streeting also told the *Observer* that the customs union could have “enormous economic benefits” for the UK.\n\n“The best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU,” he added.\n\nStreeting ruled out a “return to freedom of movement”, but his comments appeared to leave the door open to the idea of a customs union-type agreement.\n\nStarmer’s chief economic adviser Minouche Shafik [has also reportedly advocated internally for closer EU ties](https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=site%3Ainews.co.uk+Minouche+Shafik+EU&sca_esv=6b914df0baae36ea&biw=767&bih=695&sxsrf=ANbL-n4K15HSCYhnurW1jq295tbfiasotw%3A1773921451822&ei=q-S7afT0Mf2EhbIPyP6OsQY&ved=0ahUKEwi09vqv9KuTAxV9QkEAHUi_I2YQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=site%3Ainews.co.uk+Minouche+Shafik+EU&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiI3NpdGU6aW5ld3MuY28udWsgTWlub3VjaGUgU2hhZmlrIEVVSLoIUABYjgVwAHgAkAEAmAFioAHIAqoBATS4AQPIAQD4AQL4AQGYAgCgAgCYAwCSBwCgB7QBsgcAuAcAwgcAyAcAgAgA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp). In the run-up to the Budget, she is understood to have made the case for rejoining the EU’s customs union to deliver a boost to British exporters.\n\n![FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.(AP Photo\/Omar Havana, File)](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_276007621.jpg?w=760)\n\nKeir Starmer meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: Omar Havana\/AP)\n## Labour mayors are calling for a full customs union return\nTracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, returned from a trade delegation to Germany and Switzerland this year [calling for Britain to go further on Europe](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/labour-mayors-starmer-turn-customs-union-4292069?srsltid=AfmBOoq-CstkBTZy-xFQvgiEMV1eGMawxdzOI1ryF4H1dUgqOIdcbbEj&ico=in-line_link).\n\n“If we are serious about growth, we must be braver about our relationship with Europe,” she told *The i Paper*. “That means a customs union relationship with the EU.”\n\nAndy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, made the same argument at the Labour Party Conference last year.\n\n“I do think you call out what has put the country in this position,” he said, arguing the UK should rejoin the trading bloc. “The growth is not there as it once was.”\n\nKhan went further still this week, saying the damage of Brexit was visible “on a daily basis” and that rejoining the EU was a matter of when, not if.\n\n“I think it’s inevitable — the direction of travel at some stage we’re going to rejoin the European Union,” he said.\n\n## Labour leadership candidates are staking out softer Brexit positions\nWith big losses expected at May’s local elections, [Labour insiders told *The i Paper*](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/starmers-leadership-rivals-plotting-softer-brexit-4115238?ico=in-line_link) that potential leadership candidates are already sounding out Brexit experts and positioning themselves on Europe ahead of a possible contest.\n\nA Labour insider said contenders from “across the board” of the party’s factions are considering moving closer to the EU, amid fears that the Government’s reset is too incremental to deliver growth or win back votes.\n\n“There is a fairly clear consensus across the party that Brexit hasn’t worked, that voters can see it hasn’t worked, and that the Government’s ‘reset’ isn’t going to give us nearly enough growth or credit with voters,” the insider said.\n\n## But not everyone in Labour agrees\nDeep divisions remain within the party. Even among pro-European Labour MPs, a customs union does not command unanimous support.\n\nOne told *The i Paper* the “real prize” was a relationship modelled on Switzerland — a patchwork of sector-by-sector deals — [rather than a formal customs union](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/labour-split-reversing-brexit-4128952?ico=in-line_link). “Wes will regret going for customs union as it’s a lot of pain for little gain,” they said.\n\nA “Red Wall” Labour MP accused Streeting of raising the issue to burnish his leadership credentials. “He knows what he’s doing — playing to the membership,” they said.\n\nReform UK has also pledged to unpick any closer alignment with the EU if it wins power, and the party is consistently polling ahead of Labour.\n\n## What the Government has already done — and where it is stuck\nThe UK is now an active member of Horizon Europe, [the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/science\/horizon-programme-what-uk-rejoining-eu-science-research-project-how-affect-you-2600331?srsltid=AfmBOoqi3yA15oq1_pbMARo-kiB4jicN63GWA59asz-m109CjeTf__qM&ico=in-line_link), which it had left as part of the Brexit settlement and then rejoined before Labour took power.\n\nIn December, [it also agreed to associate with Erasmus+ from 2027](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-on-course-rejoin-erasmus-student-exchange-january-2027-4097493?srsltid=AfmBOor_AKLclS7jsd1XcmzXl7GBbVK-jbDWIC4MLPr9vd36bV0tsMjO&ico=in-line_link) — the student exchange scheme that allows young people to study abroad for up to a year, and which the Conservative government had declined to rejoin on cost grounds.\n\nBut further progress has proved harder. The first is money — the EU wants the UK to contribute financially to reducing economic disparities between EU regions [as the price of entry to its internal energy market](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-brexit-showdown-eu-electricity-bills-4119750?srsltid=AfmBOooKcs0DKmo5ToN3Hj0j1tdifeUxQXrr7aVAW_FkgAdIF_Mel_Qi&ico=in-line_link).\n\nThe second is tuition fees. EU negotiators want European students in the UK to pay domestic rates — a move that [could cost UK universities up to £580m](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/brexit-cost-uk-universities-cheaper-fees-4202185?srsltid=AfmBOooNpM0sOWbc8wxVAqFSm8NH3tKpUSX3J9ajfZQcHyFDJK4rTgmi&ico=in-line_link), according to modelling shared with *The i Paper*.\n\nThe third is the fundamental tension. David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said Brussels would push for “more on mobility and more on financial contributions “[in return for any closer arrangement](https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/seven-reasons-reversing-brexit-happen-4130551?srsltid=AfmBOor_4MTFz6vKTos-pSvh5WIDFBtEt8llGHgouEEE8589VgosblWY&ico=in-line_link). “Britain is still trying to cherry-pick,” he said.","meta_canonical":null}

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URL	https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/all-the-signs-that-labour-wants-to-undo-brexit-4304484
Last Crawled	2026-03-30 12:55:08 (17 days ago)
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Meta Title	All the signs that Labour wants to undo Brexit
Meta Description	The Government says it will not rejoin the customs union or single market, but senior figures have been pushing for closer ties with the EU, Impartial news & intelligent debate
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Boilerpipe Text	Britain is approaching 10 years since it voted to leave the European Union in a razor-thin referendum – but the debate over what comes next for the UK’s relationship with the bloc persists. Sadiq Khan has said that UK membership of the EU is “inevitable” and has called on the Government to commit to rejoining the customs union and single market before the next general election, expected in 2029. The Government’s official position remains that it will not do so. But a pattern of ministerial language and mounting internal pressure has prompted questions about whether that position can hold. Starmer once campaigned for a second referendum As shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer argued in 2019 that Labour should campaign to Remain in a second referendum. Since leading Labour to a majority at the 2024 general election, he has ruled out seeking to rejoin the EU. In January this year, the Prime Minister also told the BBC that the UK should consider “even closer alignment with the single market” where it was in the national interest. He said: “That needs to be considered on an issue-by-issue, sector-by-sector basis.” The Government said at the time the remarks represented no change in policy. Reeves said following EU rules should be ‘the norm’ Chancellor Rachel Reeves argued in her Mais lecture at Bayes Business School this week that where it was in the national interest, the UK should be “prepared to align with EU regulation, including in further areas of the single market”. She said regulatory independence should be “the exception, not the norm.” Treasury sources confirmed the Government is “looking at more alignment” with the bloc across “several sectors”. Reeves insisted she was not trying to “turn back the clock” on Brexit but to build a “new and stable future relationship” with Brussels, and acknowledged she would have to “make and win the political argument”. Cabinet ministers have stopped ruling out a customs union Business Secretary Peter Kyle told The i Paper in Brussels last month that “the debate about [the customs union] needs to be engaged with”. But he warned that going back into the trading bloc would take years and would not prove “the quick fix that some people think it is”, noting that Turkey’s own accession to the arrangement took decades. In December, Health Secretary Wes Streeting also told the Observer that the customs union could have “enormous economic benefits” for the UK. “The best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU,” he added. Streeting ruled out a “return to freedom of movement”, but his comments appeared to leave the door open to the idea of a customs union-type agreement. Starmer’s chief economic adviser Minouche Shafik has also reportedly advocated internally for closer EU ties . In the run-up to the Budget, she is understood to have made the case for rejoining the EU’s customs union to deliver a boost to British exporters. Keir Starmer meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: Omar Havana/AP) Labour mayors are calling for a full customs union return Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, returned from a trade delegation to Germany and Switzerland this year calling for Britain to go further on Europe . “If we are serious about growth, we must be braver about our relationship with Europe,” she told The i Paper . “That means a customs union relationship with the EU.” Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, made the same argument at the Labour Party Conference last year. “I do think you call out what has put the country in this position,” he said, arguing the UK should rejoin the trading bloc. “The growth is not there as it once was.” Khan went further still this week, saying the damage of Brexit was visible “on a daily basis” and that rejoining the EU was a matter of when, not if. “I think it’s inevitable — the direction of travel at some stage we’re going to rejoin the European Union,” he said. Labour leadership candidates are staking out softer Brexit positions With big losses expected at May’s local elections, Labour insiders told The i Paper that potential leadership candidates are already sounding out Brexit experts and positioning themselves on Europe ahead of a possible contest. A Labour insider said contenders from “across the board” of the party’s factions are considering moving closer to the EU, amid fears that the Government’s reset is too incremental to deliver growth or win back votes. “There is a fairly clear consensus across the party that Brexit hasn’t worked, that voters can see it hasn’t worked, and that the Government’s ‘reset’ isn’t going to give us nearly enough growth or credit with voters,” the insider said. But not everyone in Labour agrees Deep divisions remain within the party. Even among pro-European Labour MPs, a customs union does not command unanimous support. One told The i Paper the “real prize” was a relationship modelled on Switzerland — a patchwork of sector-by-sector deals — rather than a formal customs union . “Wes will regret going for customs union as it’s a lot of pain for little gain,” they said. A “Red Wall” Labour MP accused Streeting of raising the issue to burnish his leadership credentials. “He knows what he’s doing — playing to the membership,” they said. Reform UK has also pledged to unpick any closer alignment with the EU if it wins power, and the party is consistently polling ahead of Labour. What the Government has already done — and where it is stuck The UK is now an active member of Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme , which it had left as part of the Brexit settlement and then rejoined before Labour took power. In December, it also agreed to associate with Erasmus+ from 2027 — the student exchange scheme that allows young people to study abroad for up to a year, and which the Conservative government had declined to rejoin on cost grounds. But further progress has proved harder. The first is money — the EU wants the UK to contribute financially to reducing economic disparities between EU regions as the price of entry to its internal energy market . The second is tuition fees. EU negotiators want European students in the UK to pay domestic rates — a move that could cost UK universities up to £580m , according to modelling shared with The i Paper . The third is the fundamental tension. David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said Brussels would push for “more on mobility and more on financial contributions “ in return for any closer arrangement . “Britain is still trying to cherry-pick,” he said.
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MAY 19: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference at the UK-EU summit at Lancaster House on May 19, 2025 in London, England. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hosting leaders from the European Union for the first UK-EU Summit since Britain's withdrawal from the EU in January 2020, to discuss plans for resetting the UK's relationship with the bloc. The Labour government has said it will deliver a stronger partnership with the EU, "strengthening our alliances and closing deals in the interests of British people." According to the European Council, the meeting will also be an opportunity for the leaders to reaffirm a joint commitment to peace and security in Europe. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)](https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/SEI_282878639_3ad86f.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1200px%2C677px&resize=1200%2C675) Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, are leading plans for resetting the UK's relationship with the bloc (Photo: Carl Court/Getty) [![Avatar for Eleanor Langford](https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/I-Paper-Bylines-Eleanor-Langford-19158-copy.jpg?w=155&h=155&crop=1)](https://inews.co.uk/author/eleanor-langford) [Eleanor Langford](https://inews.co.uk/author/eleanor-langford) Political Reporter close Cancel email link share Share bookmark Save Gift this article free Make someone think Share this story from The i Paper - and spark a conversation. Gift up to 10 articles a month to a friend, so they can read for free [Subscribe now](https://inews.co.uk/subscribe) Britain is approaching 10 years since it voted to leave the European Union in a razor-thin referendum – but the debate over what comes next for the UK’s relationship with the bloc persists. Sadiq Khan has said that UK membership of the EU is “inevitable” and has called on the Government to commit to rejoining the customs union and single market before the next general election, expected in 2029. The Government’s official position remains that it will not do so. But a pattern of ministerial language and mounting internal pressure has prompted questions about whether that position can hold. New Feature ## In Short ### Quick Stories. Same trusted journalism. [![](https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Cover-Template-New-2026-03-30T085248.076.jpg?w=640)](https://inews.co.uk/shorts/trump-kharg?utm_source=theipaper&utm_medium=shorts_card&utm_campaign=shorts_&short_id=4324819) [![Fuel Shortages – March 30](https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Cover-Template-New-2026-03-30T085252.143.jpg?w=640)](https://inews.co.uk/shorts/fuel-shortages-march-30?utm_source=theipaper&utm_medium=shorts_card&utm_campaign=shorts_Fuel+Shortages+-+March+30&short_id=4324902) [![Brits Jailed – 30 March](https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Cover-Template-New-2026-03-30T085256.706.jpg?w=640)](https://inews.co.uk/shorts/brits-jailed-30-march?utm_source=theipaper&utm_medium=shorts_card&utm_campaign=shorts_Brits+Jailed+-+30+March&short_id=4324943) ## Starmer once campaigned for a second referendum As shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer argued in 2019 that Labour should campaign to Remain in a second referendum. Since leading Labour to a majority at the 2024 general election, he has ruled out seeking to rejoin the EU. In January this year, the Prime Minister also told the BBC that the UK should consider “even closer alignment with the single market” where it was in the national interest. He said: “That needs to be considered on an issue-by-issue, sector-by-sector basis.” The Government said at the time the remarks represented no change in policy. ## Reeves said following EU rules should be ‘the norm’ Chancellor Rachel Reeves [argued in her Mais lecture at Bayes Business School this week](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/reeves-sign-uk-reverse-damage-brexit-4299906?ico=in-line_link) that where it was in the national interest, the UK should be “prepared to align with EU regulation, including in further areas of the single market”. She said regulatory independence should be “the exception, not the norm.” Treasury sources confirmed the Government is “looking at more alignment” with the bloc across “several sectors”. Reeves insisted she was not trying to “turn back the clock” on Brexit but to build a “new and stable future relationship” with Brussels, and acknowledged she would have to “make and win the political argument”. ## Cabinet ministers have stopped ruling out a customs union Business Secretary Peter Kyle told The i Paper in Brussels last month that [“the debate about \[the customs union\] needs to be engaged with”.](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-talk-rejoining-eu-customs-union-business-secretary-4260461?srsltid=AfmBOooPXPzuydXleumhoGRE0xsGAIwt7V-EWdKCtg_rcn6atL4tz-rP&ico=in-line_link) But he warned that going back into the trading bloc would take years and would not prove “the quick fix that some people think it is”, noting that Turkey’s own accession to the arrangement took decades. In December, Health Secretary Wes Streeting also told the Observer that the customs union could have “enormous economic benefits” for the UK. “The best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU,” he added. Streeting ruled out a “return to freedom of movement”, but his comments appeared to leave the door open to the idea of a customs union-type agreement. Starmer’s chief economic adviser Minouche Shafik [has also reportedly advocated internally for closer EU ties](https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ainews.co.uk+Minouche+Shafik+EU&sca_esv=6b914df0baae36ea&biw=767&bih=695&sxsrf=ANbL-n4K15HSCYhnurW1jq295tbfiasotw%3A1773921451822&ei=q-S7afT0Mf2EhbIPyP6OsQY&ved=0ahUKEwi09vqv9KuTAxV9QkEAHUi_I2YQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=site%3Ainews.co.uk+Minouche+Shafik+EU&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiI3NpdGU6aW5ld3MuY28udWsgTWlub3VjaGUgU2hhZmlrIEVVSLoIUABYjgVwAHgAkAEAmAFioAHIAqoBATS4AQPIAQD4AQL4AQGYAgCgAgCYAwCSBwCgB7QBsgcAuAcAwgcAyAcAgAgA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp). In the run-up to the Budget, she is understood to have made the case for rejoining the EU’s customs union to deliver a boost to British exporters. ![FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.(AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)](https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SEI_276007621.jpg?w=760) Keir Starmer meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: Omar Havana/AP) ## Labour mayors are calling for a full customs union return Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, returned from a trade delegation to Germany and Switzerland this year [calling for Britain to go further on Europe](https://inews.co.uk/news/labour-mayors-starmer-turn-customs-union-4292069?srsltid=AfmBOoq-CstkBTZy-xFQvgiEMV1eGMawxdzOI1ryF4H1dUgqOIdcbbEj&ico=in-line_link). “If we are serious about growth, we must be braver about our relationship with Europe,” she told The i Paper. “That means a customs union relationship with the EU.” Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, made the same argument at the Labour Party Conference last year. “I do think you call out what has put the country in this position,” he said, arguing the UK should rejoin the trading bloc. “The growth is not there as it once was.” Khan went further still this week, saying the damage of Brexit was visible “on a daily basis” and that rejoining the EU was a matter of when, not if. “I think it’s inevitable — the direction of travel at some stage we’re going to rejoin the European Union,” he said. ## Labour leadership candidates are staking out softer Brexit positions With big losses expected at May’s local elections, [Labour insiders told The i Paper](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/starmers-leadership-rivals-plotting-softer-brexit-4115238?ico=in-line_link) that potential leadership candidates are already sounding out Brexit experts and positioning themselves on Europe ahead of a possible contest. A Labour insider said contenders from “across the board” of the party’s factions are considering moving closer to the EU, amid fears that the Government’s reset is too incremental to deliver growth or win back votes. “There is a fairly clear consensus across the party that Brexit hasn’t worked, that voters can see it hasn’t worked, and that the Government’s ‘reset’ isn’t going to give us nearly enough growth or credit with voters,” the insider said. ## But not everyone in Labour agrees Deep divisions remain within the party. Even among pro-European Labour MPs, a customs union does not command unanimous support. One told The i Paper the “real prize” was a relationship modelled on Switzerland — a patchwork of sector-by-sector deals — [rather than a formal customs union](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/labour-split-reversing-brexit-4128952?ico=in-line_link). “Wes will regret going for customs union as it’s a lot of pain for little gain,” they said. A “Red Wall” Labour MP accused Streeting of raising the issue to burnish his leadership credentials. “He knows what he’s doing — playing to the membership,” they said. Reform UK has also pledged to unpick any closer alignment with the EU if it wins power, and the party is consistently polling ahead of Labour. ## What the Government has already done — and where it is stuck The UK is now an active member of Horizon Europe, [the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme](https://inews.co.uk/news/science/horizon-programme-what-uk-rejoining-eu-science-research-project-how-affect-you-2600331?srsltid=AfmBOoqi3yA15oq1_pbMARo-kiB4jicN63GWA59asz-m109CjeTf__qM&ico=in-line_link), which it had left as part of the Brexit settlement and then rejoined before Labour took power. In December, [it also agreed to associate with Erasmus+ from 2027](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-on-course-rejoin-erasmus-student-exchange-january-2027-4097493?srsltid=AfmBOor_AKLclS7jsd1XcmzXl7GBbVK-jbDWIC4MLPr9vd36bV0tsMjO&ico=in-line_link) — the student exchange scheme that allows young people to study abroad for up to a year, and which the Conservative government had declined to rejoin on cost grounds. But further progress has proved harder. The first is money — the EU wants the UK to contribute financially to reducing economic disparities between EU regions [as the price of entry to its internal energy market](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-brexit-showdown-eu-electricity-bills-4119750?srsltid=AfmBOooKcs0DKmo5ToN3Hj0j1tdifeUxQXrr7aVAW_FkgAdIF_Mel_Qi&ico=in-line_link). The second is tuition fees. EU negotiators want European students in the UK to pay domestic rates — a move that [could cost UK universities up to £580m](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/brexit-cost-uk-universities-cheaper-fees-4202185?srsltid=AfmBOooNpM0sOWbc8wxVAqFSm8NH3tKpUSX3J9ajfZQcHyFDJK4rTgmi&ico=in-line_link), according to modelling shared with The i Paper. The third is the fundamental tension. David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said Brussels would push for “more on mobility and more on financial contributions “[in return for any closer arrangement](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/seven-reasons-reversing-brexit-happen-4130551?srsltid=AfmBOor_4MTFz6vKTos-pSvh5WIDFBtEt8llGHgouEEE8589VgosblWY&ico=in-line_link). “Britain is still trying to cherry-pick,” he said. close Cancel email link share Share bookmark Save Gift this article free Make someone think Share this story from The i Paper - and spark a conversation. 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Readable Markdown	Britain is approaching 10 years since it voted to leave the European Union in a razor-thin referendum – but the debate over what comes next for the UK’s relationship with the bloc persists. Sadiq Khan has said that UK membership of the EU is “inevitable” and has called on the Government to commit to rejoining the customs union and single market before the next general election, expected in 2029. The Government’s official position remains that it will not do so. But a pattern of ministerial language and mounting internal pressure has prompted questions about whether that position can hold. ## Starmer once campaigned for a second referendum As shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer argued in 2019 that Labour should campaign to Remain in a second referendum. Since leading Labour to a majority at the 2024 general election, he has ruled out seeking to rejoin the EU. In January this year, the Prime Minister also told the BBC that the UK should consider “even closer alignment with the single market” where it was in the national interest. He said: “That needs to be considered on an issue-by-issue, sector-by-sector basis.” The Government said at the time the remarks represented no change in policy. ## Reeves said following EU rules should be ‘the norm’ Chancellor Rachel Reeves [argued in her Mais lecture at Bayes Business School this week](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/reeves-sign-uk-reverse-damage-brexit-4299906?ico=in-line_link) that where it was in the national interest, the UK should be “prepared to align with EU regulation, including in further areas of the single market”. She said regulatory independence should be “the exception, not the norm.” Treasury sources confirmed the Government is “looking at more alignment” with the bloc across “several sectors”. Reeves insisted she was not trying to “turn back the clock” on Brexit but to build a “new and stable future relationship” with Brussels, and acknowledged she would have to “make and win the political argument”. ## Cabinet ministers have stopped ruling out a customs union Business Secretary Peter Kyle told The i Paper in Brussels last month that [“the debate about \[the customs union\] needs to be engaged with”.](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-talk-rejoining-eu-customs-union-business-secretary-4260461?srsltid=AfmBOooPXPzuydXleumhoGRE0xsGAIwt7V-EWdKCtg_rcn6atL4tz-rP&ico=in-line_link) But he warned that going back into the trading bloc would take years and would not prove “the quick fix that some people think it is”, noting that Turkey’s own accession to the arrangement took decades. In December, Health Secretary Wes Streeting also told the Observer that the customs union could have “enormous economic benefits” for the UK. “The best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU,” he added. Streeting ruled out a “return to freedom of movement”, but his comments appeared to leave the door open to the idea of a customs union-type agreement. Starmer’s chief economic adviser Minouche Shafik [has also reportedly advocated internally for closer EU ties](https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ainews.co.uk+Minouche+Shafik+EU&sca_esv=6b914df0baae36ea&biw=767&bih=695&sxsrf=ANbL-n4K15HSCYhnurW1jq295tbfiasotw%3A1773921451822&ei=q-S7afT0Mf2EhbIPyP6OsQY&ved=0ahUKEwi09vqv9KuTAxV9QkEAHUi_I2YQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=site%3Ainews.co.uk+Minouche+Shafik+EU&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiI3NpdGU6aW5ld3MuY28udWsgTWlub3VjaGUgU2hhZmlrIEVVSLoIUABYjgVwAHgAkAEAmAFioAHIAqoBATS4AQPIAQD4AQL4AQGYAgCgAgCYAwCSBwCgB7QBsgcAuAcAwgcAyAcAgAgA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp). In the run-up to the Budget, she is understood to have made the case for rejoining the EU’s customs union to deliver a boost to British exporters. ![FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.(AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)](https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SEI_276007621.jpg?w=760) Keir Starmer meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: Omar Havana/AP) ## Labour mayors are calling for a full customs union return Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, returned from a trade delegation to Germany and Switzerland this year [calling for Britain to go further on Europe](https://inews.co.uk/news/labour-mayors-starmer-turn-customs-union-4292069?srsltid=AfmBOoq-CstkBTZy-xFQvgiEMV1eGMawxdzOI1ryF4H1dUgqOIdcbbEj&ico=in-line_link). “If we are serious about growth, we must be braver about our relationship with Europe,” she told The i Paper. “That means a customs union relationship with the EU.” Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, made the same argument at the Labour Party Conference last year. “I do think you call out what has put the country in this position,” he said, arguing the UK should rejoin the trading bloc. “The growth is not there as it once was.” Khan went further still this week, saying the damage of Brexit was visible “on a daily basis” and that rejoining the EU was a matter of when, not if. “I think it’s inevitable — the direction of travel at some stage we’re going to rejoin the European Union,” he said. ## Labour leadership candidates are staking out softer Brexit positions With big losses expected at May’s local elections, [Labour insiders told The i Paper](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/starmers-leadership-rivals-plotting-softer-brexit-4115238?ico=in-line_link) that potential leadership candidates are already sounding out Brexit experts and positioning themselves on Europe ahead of a possible contest. A Labour insider said contenders from “across the board” of the party’s factions are considering moving closer to the EU, amid fears that the Government’s reset is too incremental to deliver growth or win back votes. “There is a fairly clear consensus across the party that Brexit hasn’t worked, that voters can see it hasn’t worked, and that the Government’s ‘reset’ isn’t going to give us nearly enough growth or credit with voters,” the insider said. ## But not everyone in Labour agrees Deep divisions remain within the party. Even among pro-European Labour MPs, a customs union does not command unanimous support. One told The i Paper the “real prize” was a relationship modelled on Switzerland — a patchwork of sector-by-sector deals — [rather than a formal customs union](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/labour-split-reversing-brexit-4128952?ico=in-line_link). “Wes will regret going for customs union as it’s a lot of pain for little gain,” they said. A “Red Wall” Labour MP accused Streeting of raising the issue to burnish his leadership credentials. “He knows what he’s doing — playing to the membership,” they said. Reform UK has also pledged to unpick any closer alignment with the EU if it wins power, and the party is consistently polling ahead of Labour. ## What the Government has already done — and where it is stuck The UK is now an active member of Horizon Europe, [the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme](https://inews.co.uk/news/science/horizon-programme-what-uk-rejoining-eu-science-research-project-how-affect-you-2600331?srsltid=AfmBOoqi3yA15oq1_pbMARo-kiB4jicN63GWA59asz-m109CjeTf__qM&ico=in-line_link), which it had left as part of the Brexit settlement and then rejoined before Labour took power. In December, [it also agreed to associate with Erasmus+ from 2027](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-on-course-rejoin-erasmus-student-exchange-january-2027-4097493?srsltid=AfmBOor_AKLclS7jsd1XcmzXl7GBbVK-jbDWIC4MLPr9vd36bV0tsMjO&ico=in-line_link) — the student exchange scheme that allows young people to study abroad for up to a year, and which the Conservative government had declined to rejoin on cost grounds. But further progress has proved harder. The first is money — the EU wants the UK to contribute financially to reducing economic disparities between EU regions [as the price of entry to its internal energy market](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-brexit-showdown-eu-electricity-bills-4119750?srsltid=AfmBOooKcs0DKmo5ToN3Hj0j1tdifeUxQXrr7aVAW_FkgAdIF_Mel_Qi&ico=in-line_link). The second is tuition fees. EU negotiators want European students in the UK to pay domestic rates — a move that [could cost UK universities up to £580m](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/brexit-cost-uk-universities-cheaper-fees-4202185?srsltid=AfmBOooNpM0sOWbc8wxVAqFSm8NH3tKpUSX3J9ajfZQcHyFDJK4rTgmi&ico=in-line_link), according to modelling shared with The i Paper. The third is the fundamental tension. David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said Brussels would push for “more on mobility and more on financial contributions “[in return for any closer arrangement](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/seven-reasons-reversing-brexit-happen-4130551?srsltid=AfmBOor_4MTFz6vKTos-pSvh5WIDFBtEt8llGHgouEEE8589VgosblWY&ico=in-line_link). “Britain is still trying to cherry-pick,” he said.
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