Barnam: UK Must Consider Returning to the EU - Sarmad

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that the UK must consider all available options for its future relationship with the European Union, including rejoining the bloc, as he intensifies efforts to rebuild ties with Europe.

Speaking to the BBC after noting at the Labour Party’s annual conference that Brexit had “done more harm than good,” Starmer said the UK should examine different models for its long-term relationship with Europe and decide which offers the best path forward.

“We can stay as we are. That is certainly an option, if people believe that is the right status quo to maintain,” he added.

He continued: “We can look at what George Osborne said about a customs union. We can look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the single market, or we can go all the way.”

Osborne, the former chancellor of the exchequer in the Conservative government, has called for the UK to pursue a customs union with the EU, while the Liberal Democrats have urged the UK to rejoin the EU’s single market.

Starmer said the options must be assessed based on “what is possible” and the pros and cons of each.

The UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016, ending more than 40 years of membership and triggering years of ongoing political crises, as successive governments have grappled with the economic and diplomatic fallout from that vote.

On Tuesday, Starmer said he would use the November summit between the UK and the EU to clarify the options available for the country’s long-term relationship with the bloc.

Starmer, who succeeded Rishi Sunak as prime minister in July, has previously said he would like to see the UK rejoin the European Union during his lifetime. He expressed the view that the UK cannot afford to endure a decade of further uncertainty on the issue.

“I am very clear, and I will say this plainly: Brexit has done more harm than good. So the question is: what do we do about that?”