Sadiq Khan has urged Labour to campaign on rejoining the European Union at the next general election.
The Mayor of London is one of the most vocal and prominent pro-EU voices in the Labour Party, having repeatedly called for the UK to join the customs union and single market.
But this week, he went further by explicitly calling for Labour to campaign on rejoining the EU at the next election – something we ourselves have previously suggested.
Speaking to the Italian publication La Repubblica, Khan said: “We should, as a Labour party, fight the next general election with a clear manifesto commitment, a vote for Labour means we would rejoin the European Union.
“I think it’s inevitable,” he added.
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Referencing the global instability ever since Donald Trump’s reelection, Khan said: “President Trump is imposing tariffs to friend and foe, creating huge economic uncertainty that was unforeseen at the last general election.
“[And] America is involved with Israel in a war in Iran, causing huge additional economic uncertainty, affecting the price of oil, affecting the cost of living. God knows what President Trump’s exit strategy is, what the endgame is.
“So the facts have changed. The evidence has changed, which is why this parliament, we should rejoin the customs union and single market. I’m quite clear.
“On the ballot paper of the next general election is a vote for Labour, a vote to rejoin the European Union, and we should be unequivocal about the benefits of the European [Union] because we’ve now seen the alternative.”
In a post on social media, Khan said the evidence is “overwhelming” that Brexit has been a “disaster for London and the UK.”
“Rejoining the EU is now clearly in our national interest,” he wrote. “The option to rejoin should be on the ballot at the next General Election.”
This week, chancellor Rachel Reeves and European affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds both called for closer alignment between Britain and the EU.
However, they both ruled out the possibility of the UK ever fully rejoining the trading bloc.
At the same time, some European leaders have voiced their desire to see Brexit reversed.