Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, urged Labour to reset relations with the European Union and negotiate closer ties with the bloc in case of winning the election, according to the Daily Express.
Blair also suggested that record net migration, which reached 745,000 last year, was a sign that the UK remained an attractive place to live, calling identity politics a “cul de sac”.
Many expect Blair and his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change to have an impact if the Labour Party wins the general election later this year. He has pointed out in an interview with The Sunday Times that this does not mean Labour leader Keir Starmer will start trying to portray it as a reunification with the EU or the single market.
In any event, we’ve got a trade negotiation coming up in 2025. But at the moment we’re outside the big political union on our own continent and we’ve got a disrupted trading relationship with our biggest trading partner, so you’ve got to fix this stuff.
Starmer ruled out the possibility of rejoining the bloc and the single market, but some in his party would like him to prepare the way for the UK to rejoin. The Labour leader claimed he wanted to improve the UK-EU trade agreement, which should be renegotiated in the coming months.
However, negotiations would be challenging with Labour understood to want a veterinary agreement with the EU to cut red tape on British food exports. Meanwhile, the bloc would appear likely to push for the UK to mirror European food standards laws.
Mutual recognition of qualifications that would make it easier for Britons to work in EU countries is also on the Labour Party’s wish list, although the EU is thought to be against the idea. However, EU insiders have told The Telegraph that senior Labour Party officials agreed in recent talks that a major renegotiation would not happen in 2025.
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy stated that he would like to attend EU foreign affairs meetings.
