STORY
A Treasury minister has reportedly said that Britain rejoining the European Union is an “inevitability”, in a comment that goes beyond Labour’s current official position on Brexit. The Financial Times reported that Lord Livermore made the remarks in the House of Lords, making him one of the most senior serving Government figures to argue openly for eventual UK re-entry.
Labour’s 2024 manifesto ruled out rejoining the EU, the single market or the customs union, while promising to improve the UK’s working relationship with Brussels. The reported intervention is therefore likely to create questions about ministerial discipline and the direction of Government thinking at a time when several senior Labour figures have been arguing for a closer relationship with Europe.
The comments come against the backdrop of continuing economic and political debate over the cost of Brexit and the limits of the Government’s reset with the EU. Opponents are likely to accuse ministers of opening the door to reversing Brexit, while pro-European campaigners may regard the remarks as evidence that the political conversation has moved further than Downing Street has publicly acknowledged.