Too late to turn to Europe? - How Keir Starmer’s Brexit reset ran out of road

Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, is sceptical of a movement to rejoin the EU, arguing that Brussels would not embrace the idea without clear political consensus within the UK. For now, that looks far off. 

But he thinks a British government prepared to blur the current red lines could convince Brussels to agree to some form of “single market for goods”, in which the UK aligns on key industrial sectors but retains flexibility on services. 

“The UK is saying ‘no’ for now, but not saying ‘no’ forever,” he says. “If the UK is prepared to ‘pay to play’, accept dynamic alignment and show flexibility on the key issue of freedom of movement, the EU would find it hard to say no to ‘cherry-picking’.”