Of all the issues facing “broken Britain,” Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government always finds time to discuss “resetting” relations with the European Union.
Germany welcomed the new Labour foreign secretary for talks on “how the UK can move closer to the EU” just two days after the July general election, and since then, there have been countless reports pointing to the likelihood of Starmer accepting Brussels’ rules while pretending to uphold Brexit—a political project he has always opposed, and which he was once open about wanting to reverse.
“It’s becoming abundantly clear,” a spokesman for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK told The European Conservative, “that Starmer hasn’t changed his [anti-Brexit] colours and he is determined to slowly drag the UK back into the European Union.”
Starmer met with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly on Thursday and both openly expressed their determination to “reset our relationship.”
This “reset” is currently—and publicly—focussed on increasing cooperation on illegal migration and support for Ukraine. But it has recently become clear that officials are also working behind the scenes to establish a so-called ‘youth mobility scheme.’ Robert Bates, who works for a UK-based migration think tank, this week told The European Conservative that “youth mobility is literally synonymous with freedom of movement, an institution that the British public steadfastly rejected in 2016.”
Talks will intensify next week when Starmer heads to Brussels to officially launch negotiations with von der Leyen. This will be the pair’s first formal talk since Starmer became prime minister almost three months ago.
The Reform spokesman told this publication that “after the Tories failed to deliver on a clean break from the European Union, Keir Starmer is now trying to achieve his long-held goal of overturning the referendum result.” Any transfer of powers back to the EU will, of course, be heartily welcomed by Brussels.
