Encouraging noises, Sir Keir – but what are you really going to do about Brexit?

As he hosts Europe’s leaders in Blenheim Palace, a place rich with the history of both the UK and its neighbouring continent, the PM has the chance to make history once again, writes Femi Oluwole

Brits can’t afford to be anchored in the past when our future is at stake (via REUTERS)

It must be extraordinary for Keir Starmer – a man who, as he frequently reminds us, is the son of a toolmaker who came from humble beginnings – to be hosting such a vital summit in the grandest palace in Europe.

Later today, the prime minister will gather leaders from all over Europe in Blenheim Palace, the luxury residence constructed on the orders of the first Duke of Malbrough in 1705, and the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill.

A place of immense grandeur, the palace was named after the 1704 Battle of Blenheim, a major war in the battle of Spanish succession. A monument to a key site of battle on the continent, the palace will serve as the centre ground for another type of battle – for peace in a divided Europe.

Today Keir Starmer will have an opportunity to begin to reverse some of the damages of Brexit, starting by laying the groundwork for rejoining the single market and customs union – a move which the majority of the country supports.

But will he take that opportunity? Early signs are not encouraging – this morning, David Lammy warned the UK is unlikely to be able to begin renegotiating a deal with the bloc for some time.

Given that seemingly everyone knows that not being in the single market is making us poorer, why is this supposedly “pro-growth” Labour government still pandering to the politics of 2016? The election is over. The referendum was nearly a decade ago. It’s time to move on.

A 2024 poll shows that people who don’t want us to rejoin the single market are statistically less likely to be aware of what it actually is, so let’s start there:

Imagine the EU didn’t exist, and those 28 countries all made their own laws for everything. If you wanted to sell a product to all those countries, you would have to make it comply with 28 different sets of rules. That would send prices through the roof. EU countries make rules together, so that Europe is effectively one single marketplace. That’s why Brexit has created paperwork, checks, and charges that have made our prices go up. Starmer could undo that.

Free movement of people means it’s not just the rich who get to work abroad. When free movement ended, we made it so that only people earning at least £38,700 could come here. EU countries have similar rules for non-EU citizens. So Brexit not only made life in the UK harder for working class people, by increasing prices and damaging the NHS, but it also trapped working class people here. Starmer could undo that too.

Now yes, in the King’s Speech, Labour did talk about an EU veterinary agreement, and a Product Safety Bill that would allow the UK to mirror EU rules. They have also talked about mutual recognition of qualifications, which would make it easier to work abroad. That definitely sounds like the building blocks for the kind of alignment with EU rules that would remove the trade barriers Brexit created. But is it enough?

Norway is essentially in the single market, and Turkey is in the customs union, despite neither country being a part of the EU. And, despite not being in the single market, Switzerland has so many mutual recognition and rule-harmonising agreements with the EU that it may as well be.

Unless the EU knows that the rules for products on the UK side of the border are compatible with the rules on the EU side, products will need to be checked. Fixing that means we need to effectively be in the single market. So why rule it out? It helps no one.

We saw the pound collapse in 2016 because the markets realised the UK would soon be disconnected from the smooth supply networks of Europe. So if Labour said they would remove all trade barriers, it would increase the value of the pound in people’s pockets. It would signal to investors that any business that sets up here will have full access to European Markets, and signal to EU leaders that the UK is finally acting sensibly. It’s a win-win situation.

Brits can’t afford to be anchored in the past when our future is at stake. Keir Starmer must be bold. As he stands on that site, rich with the history of this nation and its neighbour, he must choose to be a part of that history. It is up to him, and this government, to take the bold steps this country needs to help get it back in its feet.