Labour leader Keir Starmer has committed to rewriting the UK’s Brexit deal with the European Union when it comes up for review in 2025, if his party is elected to government. He has said he wants a closer trading relationship and better terms than former prime minister Boris Johnson negotiated and has argued this is a necessary step for future national growth.
Labour is certainly not proposing to rejoin the EU, but this nevertheless seems a risky topic for the leader of a party that has so often been on the back foot of Brexit. But is it? Much has changed since the fraught years that followed the 2016 vote to leave the EU – and even since the 2019 election, which was fought and won on a Brexit campaign.
Unlike the years between 2016 and 2019, the Labour leader’s position is now more aligned with that of the public. A majority of people now believe it was wrong to leave the EU, with just a third saying it was the right decision.
