Voices are growing in Labor for the United Kingdom to return to the EU and they are asking for it to be an electoral promise for 2029

In an interview with the Italian newspaper The RepublicKhan has been very clear in stating that “as a Labor Party, we should go into the next general election with a clear commitment to our election programme: “a Labor vote would mean rejoining the European Union.”

For the mayor of London, the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU has caused “damage” to the country and the arrival of Donald Trump to the US presidency, with his tariff policies, has generated a “economic uncertainty” and a radically different scenario than before the 2016 Brexit referendum.

“We must be unequivocal about the benefits of the European Union, because now we have seen the alternative: less investment in the UK and less exports to the EU”he stated this Thursday to the Italian media.

Along these lines, Sadiq Khan proposes a clear roadmap towards this return of the United Kingdom to the community bloc: first, restore relationships, something that the current Labor Executive of Keir Starmer has already started, and, later, the rejoining the Customs Union and the single market in the current legislature.

Khan has been the mayor of London since May 2016, almost a decade in which he admits that he has “broken heart” see how Brexit has forced many Europeans to leave the British capital, which has also impacted the country’s economy and society.

The Labor Party, which has been governing the United Kingdom since July 2024, faces its main litmus test in the upcoming local elections (and regional elections in Scotland and Wales) on May 7.

At a time when Prime Minister Starmer enjoys great social unpopularity; The right-wing populist party Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, aspires to increase its seats and leads voting intention polls, with more than 25%, for the 2029 general elections.

Labor and Brexit

The official leadership of the Labor Party does not propose, for now, that the United Kingdom re-enter the EU in the medium term. Their line is to “make Brexit work” and, at most, get closer to the single market without re-entering either the EU or the customs union.

However, prominent Labor figures – especially in the most pro-European wing – do speak openly that re-entering the EU is “inevitable” or desirable in the long term.

In the foreign policy document Britain Reconnected, the Labor Party explicitly says that “Britain will remain outside the EU” and that “there will be no return to the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement.” The line is to improve the Brexit agreement: fewer commercial obstacles (veterinary agreements, recognition of qualifications, aid for artists, security pact with the EU), but without reversing the exit.

Keir Starmer has repeated in several speeches that “the Brexit debate is over” and that his party will not advocate re-entering the EU, however, some of his ministers or close figures do not close the door to a rapprochement.

David Lammy, Foreign Minister and Starmer’s number two, has admitted that it is “obvious” that Brexit has harmed the economy and has given as an example the growth of Turkey thanks to its customs union with the EU. Although he has said that re-entering the Customs Union “is not currently our policy”, he has been reluctant to rule it out entirely in interviews, suggesting that the UK should explore deeper economic integration.

Health Minister Wes Streeting has also defended this last option.

Some parliamentarians, former ministers and figures from the European movement close to Labor have also publicly defended that the United Kingdom must eventually re-enter the EU, although they raise it as an issue “decades in the future” and not as an objective of the current Government.

Polls among Labor voters show a lot of support for steps such as re-entering the Customs Union or, in the long term, the EU itself, especially if it is presented as a way to improve the economy.

Furthermore, youhink-tanks close to labor, such as Centre for European Reformcriticize the party’s “red lines” and suggest that, after the first term of Government, a real debate be opened about the future role of the United Kingdom in Europe, including options for deeper integration.