Labour has moved first to reset the EU-UK relationship – Brussels needs to sit up and listen
Labour’s stonking general election victory on 4 July could raise hopes on both sides of the Channel that the UK may now seek to reverse at least some aspects of Boris Johnson’s hard Brexit. Alas, new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer won’t be clambering for closer (re)integration anytime soon. The key EU message from Labour’s […]
Blood, toil, tears and sweat: the European Political Community’s summit in the UK
The European Political Community (EPC) meets on 18 July for the fourth time. Hosted by the UK at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, echoes of his ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’ speech in May 1940 cannot be ignored. Facing an existential battle on the continent, Keir Starmer, the UK’s freshly elected prime minister, […]
The Brexit trade deal is no frictionless uncoupling
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK is an exercise in damage limitation. The UK’s decision to leave the EU, the Customs Union and the Single Market, means it will face numerous obstacles. However, it was in nobody’s interest to add to these obstacles, and that was the spirit in which […]