Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government prepares legislation to align UK closer to the EU, sparking internal and external political battles.
LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is preparing for new political battles as it readies legislation to move the UK closer to the European Union.
The bill aims to provide a legal framework for Starmer’s promised “reset” of relations with the 27-member bloc.
Despite Labour’s large parliamentary majority, the move is expected to face fierce opposition from right-wing parties.
“Bring it on,” a UK government official told AFP, referring to likely “Brexit betrayal” claims from the Conservatives and Reform UK.
The move also risks opening divisions within Labour over whether to breach a manifesto promise not to rejoin the EU customs union.
Starmer struck an economic agreement with EU leaders last year to boost trade by easing red tape on food and plant exports.
They also agreed to work on a new electricity deal to integrate the UK into the EU’s internal energy market.
The bill will provide powers to adopt EU rules in certain areas and set out parliament’s role in that process.
The government hopes to introduce the legislation in the spring or summer.
This could coincide with the 10th anniversary of the June 2016 Brexit referendum.
Opinion polls now regularly show most Britons regret the vote to leave and view Brexit as a failure.
“Labour members are almost wholly united in wanting to see some of the damage done by the Tory-Farage Brexit exposed and fixed,” said one supportive Labour MP.
The lawmaker added that closer alignment helps Labour’s economic message and will boost British business.
However, not all Labour MPs are in agreement.
Thirteen of them recently voted for a Liberal Democrat bill calling for negotiations to rejoin a customs union with the EU.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has indicated his support for such an agreement.
Starmer has come out against a customs union, favouring closer alignment with the EU’s single market instead.
“I want us to do more,” one Labour MP who feels Starmer is not being bold enough told AFP.
Other Labour lawmakers would rather he left the issue alone.
“We said we wouldn’t re-open the Brexit debate and now we are doing exactly that,” MP Jonathan Hinder told AFP.
A UK government spokesperson said the reset was “improving our diplomatic, economic and security cooperation”.
They stated it will be worth £9.0 billion to the UK economy by 2040.
Ian Bond of the Centre for European Reform said whether the bill is “a game changer will depend on exactly how much latitude the British government gives itself”.
He added that ministers appear “terrified that if they do anything too bold, Reform will criticise them for it”.
