Britain re-entering the EU ‘an inevitability’, says Treasury minister

A Treasury minister has claimed Britain’s return to the EU is “an inevitability” in a new sign that senior Labour figures are starting to consider a full reversal of Brexit.

Lord Spencer Livermore on Monday became the first serving minister to publicly endorse overturning the result of the referendum vote to leave the EU, which happened almost 10 years ago on June 23 2016.

“Should we in due course re-enter the European Union?” Livermore said in the House of Lords. “In my personal view that is an inevitability.

“Of course the UK will re-enter the European Union because it’s absolutely in our national economic interest.”

Livermore’s comments go well beyond Labour’s 2024 manifesto commitment which set down “red lines” ruling out a return to the EU’s single market and customs union, let alone a full return to the EU.

In recent weeks Wes Streeting, former health secretary and a potential Labour leadership contender, has promoted a much more positively pro-European stance, calling Brexit a “catastrophic mistake”.

“The biggest economic opportunity we have is on our doorstep,” he said last month. “We need a new special relationship with the EU because Britain’s future lies with Europe — and one day back in the European Union.”

Andy Burnham, the frontrunner to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister, has also said he wants Britain to rejoin the EU “in my lifetime”, further reigniting a debate which has been a political taboo for a decade.

However, Burnham subsequently dialled back his enthusiasm, saying he would not campaign on a “rejoin” ticket in this month’s Makerfield by-election; the area voted Leave and Reform UK is hoping to take the seat.

Livermore’s comments from the despatch box in the Houses of Parliament are a new departure, even if he prefaced his remarks as representing his “personal view”.

“Brexit itself has caused us a minimum of 4 per cent of our GDP,” Livermore said, citing Office for Budget Responsibility estimates. “Estimates now say that’s between 6 to 8 per cent of GDP.”

Livermore’s comments are also a sign of ministerial discipline breaking down as Starmer’s premiership appears to enter its twilight. The Labour peer helped to run Starmer’s successful 2024 election campaign.

Lord George Bridges, Conservative chair of the House of Lords economic affairs committee, said: “It’s a sign of how chaotic this government has become that ministers are now expressing their personal views on such a major issue.”