The prime minister’s comments about seeking closer relations with the EU are to be welcomed as a step in the right direction (Starmer calls for ‘ambitious’ new UK-EU ties as Trump threatens to quit Nato, 1 April). Yet a piecemeal approach to repairing the damage done by Brexit is unlikely to succeed.
A genuinely “ambitious” plan would be for Labour to announce a referendum on whether the UK should open negotiations on re-entry to the EU, promising a general election to secure a mandate to implement the proposal should the British public vote in favour. It would allow the government to seize the initiative, providing it with an issue around which to rally a broad base of electoral support.
