Electoral reform and reversing Brexit: they're more connected than you might think | Tom Baldwin

Renewed debate about Brexit is intensifying as Labour faces a leadership contest amid strong support among voters and members for reversing the 2016 referendum. Keir Starmer has signaled a desire to put the UK back at the heart of Europe, while Wes Streeting has called for full EU re-entry without specifying timing. Andy Burnham has pulled back from earlier hopes of rejoining within his lifetime, likely influenced by electoral prospects. Hesitation is understandable given the damaging consequences of Brexit and the turnover of prime ministers. However, Labour leaders must address the harm from leaving the EU and avoid the post-referendum error attributed to the Conservatives, who treated deal terms as primarily for Britain to choose rather than recognizing the EU’s leverage. Public support for rejoining declines when forced replacement of rules is emphasized.

"Keir Starmer last week made a belated nod to one of his party's deepest desires by saying that he, too, wants to put the UK back at the heart of Europe, even if it was still unclear exactly what he meant. Then Wes Streeting sought to revive faltering ambitions to be the next prime minister with a call for full re-entry into the EU, although he was similarly vague about when that might happen. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham was busy rowing back from a previously expressed hope of rejoining at some undisclosed point in his lifetime, perhaps because he won't get a shot at Downing Street unless he first wins next month's byelection in Makerfield, where a majority supported Brexit a decade ago."

"Any hesitancy about plunging back into the fires of 2016 is, of course, understandable when the smouldering consequences of Brexit have burnt through five prime ministers and now a much-anticipated sixth over the decade since. Yet if Labour's leaders, both current and wannabe, are serious about addressing the damage done by leaving the EU, they cannot repeat the error made by the Conservatives after the referendum."

"Too often, they seemed to believe the terms of any deal were primarily a matter for Britain to choose, when in practice the EU turned out to be significantly more effective in getting what it wanted. And it is true that support for rejoining begins to fall in polls when those surveyed are told that would likely mean the UK being forced to replace the"

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