Why Brexit Still Haunts British Politics

Finally, there is politics. Labour have, since the 2024 election, lost a number of voters to parties on the liberal-left of the political spectrum, be that the Greens and Liberal Democrats, or Plaid Cymru in Wales and the SNP in Scotland. In this way, the party has lost more Remain backers than Leave backers, in a context in which Brexit itself is becoming less popular amongst the British public. As such, winning back those voters and attempting to reunite progressive voters under the Labour banner is a key priority. This is prompting some in the Party, such as Starmer himself, to suggest that an “ambitious” approach to the relationship with the E.U. might be one way of achieving this. 

For a variety of reasons, therefore, conversations are happening in the governing party about whether more can be done to rebuild the U.K.’s relationship with the E.U. But what would a more “ambitious” agenda mean? Here, things get tricky. We know what the U.K. wants. London quite fancies using alignment to secure market access in sectors beyond those currently under negotiation.