Britain's government initially kept EU relations low-profile, with Labour strategists treating Europe as politically risky due to Sir Keir's referendum stance. The prime minister has inched Britain closer to European engagement, with a summit early this year resetting relations rhetorically but producing limited substance. Officials privately accept economic pressures pushing the UK toward European regulatory orbit while fearing public backlash. The balance appears to be shifting as ministers publicly advocate regulatory alignment to remove export checks and licences and propose a youth experience scheme for 18- to 30-year-olds to travel and work in Schengen countries, backed by polling showing majority support.
Britain's relationship with the European Union was not a prominent issue in national debate when Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister, and Downing Street has striven to keep it that way. Labour strategists have seen Europe as a fissile topic, and Sir Keir's opposition to Brexit in the 2016 referendum as a liability with swing voters. The prime minister has moved Britain closer to Europe, but in timid increments.
The summit that formally reset relations early this year was long on statements of ambition, but short on substance. The government's private recognition that economic logics impel Britain back into a European orbit has been in constant tension with fear of making that case in public. The balance now appears to be shifting. In a speech on Wednesday, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister responsible for EU relations, made the argument for closer regulatory alignment with Brussels in newly combative terms.
The government is negotiating an agreement that would eliminate costly checks and licence requirements for food and drink exports to the continent. Mr Thomas-Symonds expanded his advocacy for that plan into an attack on Conservatives and Reform UK for peddling snake oil and willing Britain to fail by denying the need for closer EU cooperation. Mr Thomas-Symonds also spoke enthusiastically about proposals for a youth experience scheme, allowing 18- to 30-year-olds to travel and work in the Schengen area on extended visas.
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