The UK's Brexit debate resurfaces: Starmer says 'don't look back', the Lib Dems say 'drop the red lines'
Ten years after the Brexit vote, the question of the UK's relationship with the EU is back at the centre of British politics. At the G7 summit, Prime Minister Keir Starmer reaffirmed Labour's manifesto pledge not to rejoin the EU, saying the UK should not 'look backwards' — even as rivals like Andy Burnham said they would like to see the UK rejoin in their lifetimes. The Liberal Democrats went further, with leader Ed Davey set to formally urge Labour to scrap its red lines on the customs union and single market and begin talks on rejoining — calling Starmer's position 'torpor and timidity' as the 10th anniversary of the referendum approaches.
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Speaking at the G7 summit in France, Keir Starmer said the UK and EU should not waste time 'looking backwards' to Brexit. He reaffirmed Labour's manifesto commitment to remain outside the bloc, while saying there had been 'real progress' in the relationship which was 'slowly but surely building.' For Starmer, reopening the question of EU membership would be a distraction from the pragmatic work of rebuilding trade, security and regulatory cooperation on the terms already agreed — without triggering the political divisions the debate would reawaken.
Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey challenged Burnham — and any future Labour prime minister — to scrap the party's red lines on the customs union and single market and immediately begin talks on a more ambitious EU deal. 'My message to Andy Burnham, to Wes Streeting — to whoever the next prime minister may be — is this: drop those red lines,' Davey said. He argued that closer economic ties, including free movement, and a new European security council would better serve Britain amid Russian threats and an unreliable Trump administration than Starmer's cautious incrementalism.
