Jon McLeod / Jun 2026
Image: Shutterstock
The UK’s governing Labour Party is in full soul-searching and navel-gazing mode as it completes a slide towards what some regard as a wasteful and self-indulgent leadership election. At the same time, the current Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is hotly preparing for the EU-UK summit on 22 July 2026.
This should, in theory at least, be a major milestone in taking stock on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement that accompanied the UK’s departure from the European bloc. And it is true that, from many perspectives, and on account of a range of transitional arrangements and accommodations that accompanied that Brexit moment, the country has not really seen ‘full-fat’ Brexit yet.
Euro-hawks among the 27 argue that the Brits must first feel the full pain of leaving – and pay the price – before any talk of rejoining can be entertained. Why, after all the fuss and bother the country created (not to mention the downright ingratitude) should perfidious Albion be readmitted to the world’s most desirable multi-lateral club?
But this argument is looking increasingly tired and needlessly vengeful in a more dangerous, post-Trumpian world, where Europe in its wider sense has to take on the mantle of defender of the free world (parking for the moment the rise of the European far right). Bringing the UK in on the act, along with changes to the status of countries like Norway, Ukraine, Serbia and Montenegro under discussion, is now a worthy talking point in the context of a new phase of accession.
But in the UK’s case, those with European interests at heart, need to move more quickly – much more quickly. The British Labour Party may tack to the soft left under a possible Andy Burnham government, meaning mixed messages in that party over Europe. Since the 2024 General Election, Keir Starmer’s team have maintained a rather austere posture on Europe, ruling out even joining the customs union, while, at the same time, seeking modest advances in regulatory alignment to soften the economic cost of being a nation on the outside. However, there have been recent signs that a rethink was possible.
Now, a leadership election will shake the kaleidoscope once again, and there is a risk that any candidate seeking votes from the party’s three-pronged electoral college (MPs, trade unions, membership) will woo left-leaning labourites with mild Eurosceptic messaging, despite the fact that two hopefuls – Burnham and ex-Health Secretary Wes Streeting – have started their shadow campaigns with hints and grunts of positivity towards returning to the EU fold.
This is why the EU needs to act now to make a ‘big, open offer’ to make it advantageous for Labour leadership hopefuls to rethink the UK’s approach to Europe on account of the undoubted economic advantages of signalling a prospective return to the bloc. Just putting it on the agenda will alter the prism of UK politics, currently dominated by hateful anti-immigration messages from the hard right.
Giving the Labour Party some encouragement to pivot to the EU again would also have the added advantage of solidifying ‘progressive’ votes in the centre and on the left of UK politics (Greens, Lib Dems, some Scottish and Welsh Nationalists, ‘One Nation’ Tories) without the need for any formal pacts. The effect at the 2029 General Election would be to lock out any prospect of a Eurosceptic Conservative/Reform UK administration, sharpening the dividing lines between the two main voting trends in the country.
There is still some way to go on this, though there are signs of the ailing ‘European movement’ in the UK, having licked its wounds for the ten years since Brexit, resurfacing with renewed messaging. In a relaunch this week, it chimed: “It’s time to lay the arguments of the past to rest, and to focus instead on the future that we want to build.” From now one, said the European Movement’s Chief Executive Nick Harvey, the emphasis would be on ‘joining’ rather than ‘re-joining’ the EU. I’m trying to work out the difference.
Maybe stopping looking in the rear-view mirror will help pro-EU forces sell their message more effectively to a new generation of voters. New modelling from the Centre for European Reform this month rated UK-to-EU goods exports down a whopping 16% after Brexit, with trade the other way 14% lower. The figures for trade in services were put at 7% and 19% lower respectively. The prospects of an economic rebound triggered by clearer signalling around a UK return are clear. If it’s growth you want, there it is right in front of you.
As holiday-making UK voters endure fingerprinted, passport queue segregation this summer, it may just be the political messaging they are waiting for.
