Former chancellor Rachel Reeves has said Britain’s future lies inside the European Union, arguing that Brexit has left the country “poorer, weaker and less secure”. Writing in The Sunday Times, she threw her support behind Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s decision to open an honest debate about the UK’s future relationship with Europe, in her first major intervention since leaving the Treasury.
Reeves said she was proud of the progress already made in strengthening ties with the EU, but insisted there was now a debate to be had. She wrote that no one in the Treasury had ever doubted where her instincts lay, and that she believed Britain’s future lay in the European Union. Supporters of re-entry, she added, must now make the argument, demonstrate tangible benefits and get the next steps right.
Her intervention is striking because Reeves helped to craft Labour’s 2024 election manifesto, which explicitly ruled out a return to EU membership and committed the party to staying outside the single market, the customs union and freedom of movement, while seeking to make Brexit work. Her remarks go further than anything she said while in office, when the government line was firmly against rejoining.
Reeves set out two immediate priorities ahead of the UK-EU summit later this month. At a minimum, she said, the summit should confirm the ambitious youth mobility scheme negotiated earlier this year, which she has championed since her time in office. She also hoped for progress towards entry into the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence partnership, an EU-wide rearmament effort launched after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A defence pact agreed with the EU last May paved the way for UK-based defence companies to take part in projects funded by SAFE.
The political response was swift. The Conservatives said there was no desire to rerun the Brexit debate, while Reform UK’s Nigel Farage said there was no mandate to pursue closer EU ties. Burnham has said any changes would require a mandate at a general election, which is next due by 2029, and has previously said he wants the UK back in the EU within his lifetime while ruling out any change in this Parliament. Reeves herself sets out no timetable for rejoining in the extracts published so far, nor does she say whether a referendum would be needed.
In the same piece, Reeves also sought to defend her record in office, arguing that governments needed to be braver in building big infrastructure projects and clear-eyed about the risks and benefits that artificial intelligence would bring to advanced economies. She is due to deliver her first public speech since leaving the Treasury on Monday, addressing economists and political thinkers at Harvard Kennedy School.
Sources: The Sunday Times, “Britain’s future is in the EU, says Rachel Reeves” (https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/britains-future-is-in-the-eu-says-rachel-reeves-kngvq3lfz); BBC News, “Reeves says UK’s future should be inside the EU”.
