Ambitious Twin Track Strategy Aims To Build Trade And Security Links

Starmer's Labour seeks closer EU ties, but Brexit reversal unlikely

Ambitious twin-track strategy aims to build trade and security links

By Eddy Wax and Hanne Cokelaere

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - In an alternate universe, Sir Keir Starmer might be preparing to take the United Kingdom back into the European Union after a landslide Labour victory in the next election. In the real world, the Labour leader is pursuing an ambitious twin-track strategy to build closer UK trade and security ties with the bloc, while ruling out any attempt to reverse Brexit. Starmer's approach reflects the reality that Brexit has fundamentally changed the UK's relationship with its nearest neighbors and that the public, by a narrow majority, voted to leave the EU in 2016. "Brexit has happened. We have to make the best of it," Starmer said in a speech in January. However, the Labour leader also believes that the UK can and should have a closer relationship with the EU than it currently does. "We need to build a new, positive relationship with the EU, based on shared values and common interests," he said. Starmer's twin-track strategy involves: * **Trade:** Labour would seek to negotiate a new free trade agreement with the EU that would give British businesses full access to the bloc's single market. * **Security:** Labour would create a bespoke defense relationship with the EU, which would allow the UK to participate in joint military exercises and operations. This strategy is designed to appeal to both Labour's traditional base of support among working-class voters in the north of England and to middle-class voters in the south who are concerned about Brexit. However, it is unclear whether Starmer's strategy will be successful. The EU has so far been reluctant to offer the UK a better trade deal than the one it has now. And it is not clear whether the UK public is ready for a closer relationship with the bloc. A recent poll by YouGov found that 44% of Britons believe that the UK should leave the EU, while 36% believe that it should remain a member. Starmer's strategy is a gamble. But if it pays off, it could help Labour to win the next election and to build a new, more positive relationship between the UK and the EU.