Keir Starmer has issued one of his fiercest critiques of Brexit and its proponents, lashing out at the false promises made by Vote Leave campaigners both before and after the 2016 referendum result. He’s also declared his willingness to align the UK more closely with the EU single market.
Keir Starmer blasts ‘slogans and easy answers’
Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, he attacked both Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson, for attempting to fix the country with ‘slogans and easy answers’. He singled out claims about the NHS – and a certain red bus – alongside unsubstantiated forecasts about Brexit and immigration.
However, the Prime Minister also hinted that he’d be open to hitting the accelerator on the proposed UK-EU ‘reset’ talks, which somewhat stalled in 2025. Although the reintroduction of the Erasmus scheme was confirmed last month, some voters have complained about little movement elsewhere.
After voting to leave the European Union almost 10 years ago, and formally withdrawing from the trading bloc in 2020, there has been very little to cheer about in terms of Brexit and its promised benefits – unless you’re enthused by a fragile trade deal with the US and the return of blue passports.
Is Brexit unraveling? PM voices support for closer EU alignment
There’s also been a huge shift in public sentiment over the previous decade, and support for EU alignment is now on the rise. Recent polls show fewer than 30% of the public still back the decision to divorce, with other figures revealing that many elderly Brexit voters have since ‘died out’.
Therefore, the ground is fertile for a shift in Brexit policy – something which Keir Starmer appears to have picked up on…
“We need to shoot down this idea that slogans and easy answers will fix the country. Johnson pretended to drive a bulldozer through a wall saying that would get us £350m a week for the NHS. It didn’t happen. Farage pretended that leaving the EU would reduce immigration. The opposite happened.”
“We’ve already taken steps on food and agriculture to align with the EU’s single market. I think we should get closer. If it’s in our national interest to have even closer alignment with the Single Market, we should consider that, and go that far.” | Keir Starmer