Nigel Farage’s assertions that pro-Europeans have taken the upper hand in parliament are bang on the money, leading figures have stated ahead of party conference season.
Speaking to The London Economic, Mike Galsworthy said the “dinosaur Brexit MPs” have “met their meteor” after the Conservatives were reduced to 121 seats in parliament.
Ardent Brexiteers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg were among the casualties, with many other major Brexit backers removed from frontline politics in the years leading up to the vote.
Making his maiden speech in parliament, Reform UK leader Farage claimed there are “more supporters of Brexit in the European Parliament than I sense there are in this UK parliament of 2024,” adding that this is “very much a Remainers’ parliament”, perhaps even a “Rejoiners’ parliament”.
Labour’s benches are stuffed with ardent Remainers, including many who campaigned for a second EU referendum in 2019 amid the Brexit deadlock.
As a result, for the first time in 14 years, Britain’s prime minister will not face internal party pressure for Euroskeptic policies.
Labour MP Stella Creasy could emerge as a key figure if Labor big-wigs are to buy in to Europe’s gravitational pull.
As the leader of Labour Movement for Europe, she sits at the top of a group which boasts more than 120 MPs and peers among its ranks – almost the same number as Tory MPs in parliament.
Creasy will lead a rally for the group on Sunday at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, a chance for MPs involved to plot out next steps over glasses of claret.
A youth mobility deal, which Britain already has with countries like Australia and New Zealand, would allow young EU citizens to live and work in Britain for a certain duration, while setting out a long-term path towards rejoining the EU’s customs union and single market are favoured by the group’s influential members.
Only time will tell whether their efforts will bear fruit.
Related: Non-EU passengers arriving in Brussels face 2-hour queues