Closer EU relations should be top priority for Labour government, says Sir Tony Blair
Fixing Britain’s relations with the European Union should be one of the top priorities for a Labour government, Sir Tony Blair has said.
The former Labour prime minister said Sir Keir Starmer should make efforts to heal post-Brexit relations with the EU as soon as possible if he is elected to No 10.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, Sir Tony said the four immediate priorities for a Labour administration should include planning reforms, changing investment rules, dealing with the labour shortage and “fix[ing] the Brexit relationship”.
He added that a Labour government should pursue a closer relationship with the EU, despite Sir Keir already ruling out rejoining the single market and customs union.
Sir Tony said it would be “very difficult” to rejoin the EU immediately because “we’ve spent seven years completely diverted in government from dealing with a lot of the big issues because we’ve had to deal with Brexit”.
However, he suggested that lasting Labour power could see “a future generation” reverse Brexit and help Britain rejoin the EU.
“I mean, I would love it if it never happened obviously. But I think if you were to go back into a negotiation – actually go fully back into the EU at this moment in time – it would be a huge diversion for the Government… a future generation? That’s another matter.”
Sir Tony said the UK is currently “too weak” to reverse Brexit and that the country should only start thinking seriously about rejoining the EU “when it’s strong”, with Britain set to remain world’s worst-performing large economy in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund.
He suggested Britain should focus its energies in the meantime on smoothing over tensions that have arisen as a result of Brexit, including “aligning with the regulatory framework in Europe” and “cooperating in other big areas in energy”.
He said this must include rejoining the Horizon programme, Europe’s £85bn science research scheme.
The UK was locked out of Horizon after formally leaving the EU in 2020, which sparked a bitter dispute over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland.
Rishi Sunak is understood to have been handed a draft deal on rejoining the programme but is yet to sign it off, insisting he wants the “best deal” for taxpayers’ money.
It comes as Labour leader Sir Keir said in May that he plans to reopen Brexit trade talks and secure a “closer trading relationship” with the EU, despite ruling out rejoining the bloc’s key trading platforms.
He pledged to “make Brexit work” and “improve” the deal negotiated by Boris Johnson in 2019 if elected as prime minister.
Senior Tories said Sir Keir’s plans suggested Labour would eventually look to reverse Brexit and drag Britain closer to the EU.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, said: “Starmer of the second referendum and lover of U-turns proves once again that he cannot be trusted on Brexit.”
Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group, a caucus of eurosceptic Tory MPs, said the Labour leader had tried to “frustrate us ever leaving the EU in the first place”.
“I have always maintained that he ‘Remains a Remainer’ at heart – and now the truth is finally seeping out,” he said. “That man would try and take us back into the EU, even without a referendum, if he ever got the chance.”
