Pro-EU demonstrators protest outside Parliament against Brexit on the fourth anniversary of Britain’s official departure from the European Union in London, United Kingdom on January 31, 2024.
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It’s been eight years since just under 52% of the British electorate voted to leave the European Union, in a monumental decision that divided friends, families and the nation.
It still does, to a lesser extent, with polls suggesting that the same vote held now might produce a different result and constituents questioning whether life outside the economic and political union is really better.
Still, “we are where we are” is the attitude of many Britons, with parties of all political colors vowing in the years between the referendum and the actual January 2020 exit, to “make the best of it.”
But if Labour — a party which opposed Brexit but pledged to “respect the will of the British people” — wins the forthcoming U.K. election on July 4 as polls suggest, some analysts predicting a thawing of icy relations between the EU and U.K. and, perhaps, even a rapprochement.
For its part, Labour is treading carefully around the thorny subject of Brexit and any post-election win relationship with the EU, eager not to scare the horses — that is, prospective swing voters — ahead of July 4.
Instead, Labour says it will not attempt to rejoin the single market or customs union that characterize the EU’s economic framework that facilitates trade between member states — but signals that it wants to improve relations with Brussels.
With Labour, Britain will stay outside of the EU. But to seize the opportunities ahead, we must make Brexit work. We will reset the relationship and seek to deepen ties with our European friends, neighbours and allies. That does not mean reopening the divisions of the past. There will be no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement
Instead, the party has said it wants to reduce trade restrictions and a new veterinary agreement to relax checks on agri-food goods (such as health certificates for products of animal origin, which require a veterinarian’s signature). It also says it wants to reduce barriers for touring artists and musicians, and to secure a mutual recognition agreement for professional qualifications “to help open up markets for UK service exporters.”
Lorries arrive at the Port of Dover in Kent.
Gareth Fuller – PA Images | PA Images | Getty Images
Labour’s reticence over making much of its potential post-election plan vis-à-vis the EU, the U.K.’s largest trading partner as a bloc, is largely seen to be down to its eagerness to target disaffected Conservative voters.
Voter polls have consistently pointed to a significant win for the party, suggesting it could clinch around 40% of the vote, compared to 20% for the incumbent Conservative Party led by pro-Brexit Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Around 16% of the vote is expected to go to the Reform UK Party helmed by Nigel Farage, a…
Read More: A Labour win could improve UK-EU relations after Brexit