The former deputy prime minister’s intervention came as it emerged Sir Keir Starmer will snub the fifth anniversary of Brexit on Friday - choosing instead to focus on his ongoing reset of relations with the EU. Lord Heseltine has said Brexiteers sold Britain a “pack of lies” and called for the UK to rejoin the European Union.
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The former deputy prime minister said the UK should be “at the heart of Europe” and that returning to the bloc would be “in the best interests of a generation of young British people”. Speaking ahead of the fifth anniversary of Britain’s official departure from the EU, Lord Heseltine told the BBC: “The creation of the single market was Margaret Thatcher’s greatest achievement. It was a culmination of the determination that war should be eliminated from the landmass of Europe.
![[Rachel Reeves said ministers will consider joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM) trading scheme]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/27/10/SEI237413909.jpg)
“I was rather keen on these ideas. And I am appalled by Brexit, I don’t believe for an instant that we should accept the verdict of a pack of lies that was paraded by various people in order to persuade people we had to sever our relationship with Europe.”.
His intervention came as Downing Street confirmed Sir Keir Starmer will snub the fifth anniversary of Brexit, with the prime minister instead focusing on his ongoing reset of relations with the EU. The prime minister has no plans to celebrate or mark the key milestone, his official spokesman confirmed, adding that he is focused on “making Brexit work for the British people”.
