No re-joining but renewed ties: Would a Labour election win bring UK and EU closer together?

euronews (in English)

Labour's leader Keir Starmer has ruled out any radical re-haul of the UK-EU relationships but has made clear his distaste for Boris Johnson's post-Brexit arrangements.

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00:00As the UK prepares to hold a general election, the leading Conservative Party looks ready

00:05to lose to the opposition Labour Party for the first time in 14 years.

00:11A Labour victory would definitely be a step up for UK-EU relations. The EU will know that

00:18the Labour Party was fighting for the UK's continued membership of the EU. They know

00:25that. And they also know that the Labour Party doesn't have the same bizarre hostilities

00:32to the EU that the previous few governments have had.

00:39Despite calling for a re-referendum in 2019, Starmer has publicly hardened his approach

00:45and ruled out any return to the single market or customs union.

00:48I think the reason, yeah, is that they don't want to name things which could be lightning

00:54rods for criticism from the Conservatives or from certain elements of the more Brexit-supporting

00:59press in the UK. So I think they probably do have more ideas up their sleeve, but I'm

01:05not sure the party necessarily has decided exactly which ones it itself wants to go for

01:10in power. I think it will depend to some degree on the size of any majority it has. If the

01:16majority is smaller than expected, only 20 or 30 seats maybe, they'll be less willing

01:21to take political risks.

01:23When it comes to NATO, the Labour Party are as committed to the pact as their Tory predecessors.

01:29They have promoted a security pact between the UK and the EU, although the details on

01:33this remain vague. Experts have said that a Labour victory will largely mean that the

01:37new party will attempt to come to negotiations with a clean slate and make themselves more

01:42present in negotiations with the EU.

01:45I think Labour are really going to focus on demonstrating their presence in Europe and

01:50they are a different type of operation to the Conservatives. If you look at their rhetoric,

01:54there's a lot focused on meetings and presence and public engagement. That's really what

01:58this security pact is actually all about.

02:01If the Labour government make it into power, they could be set to negotiate a tricky renewed

02:06role for the UK in the European Union, having to appeal to both Brussels' requirements and

02:12large portions of its electorate who voted for Britain to leave the EU to start with.

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