Starmer warned over ‘anaemic’ post-Brexit reset efforts in damning report
Starmer warned over ‘anaemic’ post-Brexit reset efforts in damning report
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In a damning report to mark the fifth anniversary of Britain’s departure from the European Union, UK in a Changing Europe said it appears that EU policy is ‘peripheral to Starmer’s government’. Sir Keir Starmer’s post-Brexit reset of relations with Brussels have been branded anaemic, with the prime minister warned that his EU policy is vague and unambitious.
![[Rachel Reeves was criticised for failing to mention the impacts of Brexit in her Budget]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/28/14/54293003863_45fdf2392f_o.jpg)
In a damning report to mark the fifth anniversary of Britain’s departure from the European Union, UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) said it appears that EU policy appears “peripheral to Starmer’s government”. And, despite the PM and Rachel Reeves relentlessly focusing on economic growth, the EU relations think tank said it was remarkable that the chancellor’s October Budget failed to mention the impacts of Brexit once.
The Brexit Files, published on Tuesday by UKICE, lays bare the impact of Brexit on areas of the economy such as trade, immigration and defence, as well as the state of Sir Keir’s attempts to rebuild ties with Brussels. In a series of essays, experts set out how, despite the promises of Brexiteers, trade and investment into Britain has fallen while net migration has soared to record levels.
But, despite Sir Keir’s frequent overtures to Brussels, UKICE researcher Jannike Wachowiak said Labour’s policy on the the EU since being elected in July has been “vague”. “What has been proposed so far is small in scale and technical, rather than a vision for a substantially different relationship,” she said, ahead of a key meeting between Sir Keir and EU leaders next week.
