Come back when you’ve something to say

I wrote a piece for Brexit Spotlight on Starmer’s visit to Brussels . Earlier this month Keir Starmer’s went to Brussels to meet the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a much–heralded start of a “reset” of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union (EU). A genuine re-set of relations was always going to be a challenge given the red lines established by the Labour Party in the UK General Election.

The article looks at the development of Labour’s policy towards the EU and the development of the “Red Lines”, or the three “Noes” as some European politicians are calling it. I acknowledge that Labour’s leadership have attempted to broaden the conversation by raising Defence and Security, although I believe this is basically an attempt to trade the UK’s relative but shrinking strength in military capability for ‘single market access with opt-outs’.

The announcements on both sides were lukewarm towards progress although they agreed to meet again. I finish the article by saying, it has hardly been an ideal beginning to the ‘reset’, even if the red lines established by the Labour Party were always going to inhibit a fuller and more meaningful collaboration. Indeed, the Independent reports that the meeting was:  

“… a blow to the Prime Minister, the EU repeatedly pointed to Britain’s existing arrangements with the bloc – Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework and Boris Johnson’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) – calling for the ‘full and faithful’ implementation of those deals. It could suggest there is little room for any major new agreements until existing plans are fully in place. Currently parts of the TCA are not in place, such as repeatedly delayed Brexit checks on EU imports.”

This is as close to “come back when you’re ready to say something interesting”, as the EU gets.