Why Does Keir Starmer Think It’s Time For Closer EU Ties?

Keir Starmer reopened a dangerous can of worms this week.

No, not the Peter Mandelson saga, but the UK’s ties with the EU.

While the government says it does not want to undo Brexit – as Labour’s political opponents claim – the prime minister made it clear he “strongly believes the UK’s best interests are in a stronger, closer relationship with Europe” on Monday.

His remarks came after chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed she would be open to working with the EU if it boosts economic growth or helps the UK’s “security and resilience”.

These comments raised eyebrows among critics, especially as MPs will soon vote on the government’s UK-EU reset bill after it’s unveiled in the King’s Speech on May 13.

Acting on the prime minister’s orders, the monarch will set out the government’s plans for the coming parliamentary session.

Labour has long pledged to “reset” Britain’s relationship with the EU after Boris Johnson’s trade deal made it harder to import and export to and from the UK’s nearest neighbours.

Donald Trump’s war in Iran has rocked the international economy by threatening global oil supplies – and raised significant fears about the UK’s depleted defences in the process.

The president has also been attacking Britain, even threatening to rip up the UK-US trade deal, after Starmer chose not to join Trump’s offensives against Iran.

So it’s rather timely that the new reset bill will grant the government new powers to align the UK with parts of the EU to make trading with the bloc easier, a move ministers hope will ease cost of living pressures.

But it won’t be plain-sailing for Starmer. While MPs will vote on the overall bill, the “secondary legislation” within the bill will bypass a Commons vote.

That means parliamentarians will not be able to have their say when the government chooses to line up with EU laws around certain trade sectors.

Brexiters will be especially infuriated because, being outside of the EU, the UK cannot even have a say on making these laws anymore.

But ministers are becoming increasingly outspoken in their attacks on Brexit – and evidently happy to take on that fight.

Housing secretary Steve Reed told HuffPost UK: “Brexit – Tory Brexit – led to a collapse in UK exports of one-fifth. We’ve lost jobs, we’ve lost investment, people have lost wages. We need to grow the economy if we want to put money back in people’s pockets, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

He insisted Labour respects the referendum result, while acknowledging that “nobody I know who voted for Brexit voted to make themselves and their community poorer”.

Reed’s sentiments appear to reflect voters’ changing feelings towards Brexit, according to new polling from the More in Common think tank.

It found the Remain camp would win with 65% of the vote if another EU referendum were held today, while just over a quarter would vote Leave.

Meanwhile, Naomi Smith, Chief Executive of Best for Britain, which campaigns to strengthen UK-EU ties, said their polling has similar results.

“Labour is shedding far more of its support to the left than the right,” she said, analysis the party’s vote share ahead of the May elections where the party is expected to lose a shocking number of seats.

“A far closer relationship with Europe – delivered with the urgency the moment demands – is the key policy area uniting the majority of voters Labour is currently hemorrhaging.”

But this pro-EU shift will come at a cost.

Joe Meighan, a policy adviser from the pro-EU think tank the European Movement, said Starmer “needs to confront what it means for Labour’s red lines” if he wants closer ties with the union.

Labour promised in the run-up to the 2024 general election that rejoining the Single Market is a red line.

Meighan said: “No business would decide to distance itself from its best customer. The impact of doing so is written across our entire economy.

“Food and drink exports to the EU were 31% lower in 2025 than in 2019. At least 4% of our GDP has been lost.

“Energy bills are higher, young people are trapped, our international clout has dwindled.”

But, he added: “In this new reality, Labour cannot go on treating its own Brexit red lines as untouchable.“

We look at the risks the government is taking by reviving the Brexit rows in this week’s Commons People, complete with extracts from our interview with Reed:

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.