Britain’s EU reset needs bold thinking. It’s time Starmer threw his habitual caution to the wind

A slow approach to the reset is more likely than fireworks but Starmer would be wise to get it done soon so Brexit is not an issue at the next general election, warns Andrew Grice

In opposition, Keir Starmer’s natural caution served him well and he won a landslide election victory. Sometimes, being circumspect is the right approach in government.

But it’s now time for Starmer to be bold in one area – resetting UK relations with the EU. So far, he has talked a good game and, behind the scenes, personal relationships have improved. But tangible progress has been slow. On Monday, the prime minister will step up a gear by joining EU leaders for an informal dinner in Brussels before negotiations begin at a UK-EU summit in March or April.

On Monday, the PM will focus on greater cooperation on defence and security. It’s topical because of Ukraine and Donald Trump, and safe ground as it will probably be the easy bit of the reset. Starmer now needs to bring forward proposals in more tricky areas. Ironically, the EU has made the running with ideas on youth mobility and the UK joining a customs arrangement for the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Ukraine and some north African countries – even though London rather than Brussels wants to reopen Boris Johnson’s threadbare deal so trade friction can be reduced. “We can’t tell them [the UK] what they want,” one EU diplomat told me.

The Starmer government’s response on mobility for under-30s was too cautious: suggesting the EU plan would restore free movement, breaching one of Labour’s red lines, was inaccurate. I suspect the PM is holding back his approval of a more limited mobility deal for students so he can ask for something in return.

Despite the EU’s rules-based approach and desire to avoid UK “cherry-picking”, I’m told Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, is ready to push the boundaries to give Starmer an unprecedented third country deal if he is bold enough. That would mean the UK agreeing to adopt future EU rules on a sector-by-sector basis (dynamic alignment) and accepting a role for the European Court of Justice in policing them. This is less controversial than the Conservatives claim. On Friday, they trumpeted the previous government's scrapping of almost 2,500 EU laws but forgot to mention it left 4,000 on the statute book. Even Kemi Badenoch, a Brexiteer, baulked at a bigger bonfire as business secretary. Aligning with the EU in many areas is in the national interest.

Keir Starmer has pursued a policy of ‘resetting’ relations with the EU (PA)

A slow, incremental approach to the reset is more likely than a big-bang firework display. But the PM would be wise to get it done as soon as possible so Brexit is not an issue at the next general election.

Starmer should reject the advice of those aides urging him to stick with his safety-first approach to avoid handing ammunition to Nigel Farage and the Tories, who will accuse Labour of plotting to overturn Brexit. (They would cry “betrayal” if Starmer so much as said “hello” to Von der Leyen). Although Labour is right to worry about Reform UK, the PM should remember the context has changed: five years after the UK left the EU, 55 per cent of people think it was the wrong decision and only 30 per cent the right one. Some 57 per cent would vote to rejoin. Badenoch has admitted the Tories did not have a Brexit plan for growth.

From the pro-EU side, Ed Davey has urged Starmer to rejoin the EU customs union. The PM should take the Lib Dem threat seriously. Davey’s party has probably peaked in the traditionally Tory blue wall and will go for Labour votes at the next election, and Labour could lose the support of frustrated pro-Europeans if the reset is too timid. An impatient, overwhelmingly pro-EU Labour Party is pressing Starmer to go big. His huge Commons majority would approve the changes.

Some Labour ministers privately view Trump, who detests the EU, as a barrier to an ambitious UK-EU agreement because Starmer wants a good working relationship with him. “He will force us to choose between the US and EU,” one told me. Starmer allies insist there would be “no contradiction” between a US trade deal based on services and advanced technology, and a more conventional one with the EU based on goods. They say the UK can have the best of both the new and old trade worlds.

Regrettably, Labour’s other red lines will keep the UK out of the single market and customs union in this five-year parliament. Yet the reset can make a difference if Starmer has the courage of his pro-EU convictions.

Crucially, smoothing the rough edges of UK-EU trade would boost economic growth faster than the mostly long-term measures set out by Rachel Reeves on Wednesday. A rise in GDP of up to 0.7 per cent is not to be sniffed at when growth is flatlining.

Starmer has nothing to lose but the chains holding back the UK economy.