Britain and Europe, eight years after Brexit vote: Could UK election reset ties with EU?

It's been almost exactly eight years since British voters decided to leave the European Union, although that decision did not become active until December 2020. Much of this last decade has been marked by a turbulent relationship between the UK's ruling Conservatives and the EU. The opposition Labour Party looks poised to win back power in the July 4 election, but are pro-Europeans' hopes of a much closer relationship misplaced? Our guests argue that Labour leader Keir Starmer’s room for manoeuvre would be very limited if he sticks with the current UK-EU agreement.

[hawsrulebegin]

My 77 yr old mum admitted voting for Brexit was a mistake. But she’ll vote reform this week. Because she gets fooled by Farage every time. Can’t reason with her. The U.K. is full of people like this.

[antonioguerreiro]

NO!!! I was anEU citizen in the UK for 38 years.I WILL NEVER EVER FORGET OR FORGIVE the way they treated EU citizens during that referendum NEVER EVER let them back into the EU ....I left for my own Mental health !!

[Kwippy]

Despite the economic pains, the destruction of the NHS, and complete lack of a single benefit from Brexit, far too many Brits still want to stay out, because they want to keep foreigners out as much as they can. Eventually UK will want to rejoin, but it's going to take quite a bit more pain before they learn their lesson.

[DarkFire]

Brexit was an insane act of national self-damage. Nothing good - literally nothing - has come of brexit. I really hope that within my lifetime we'll be back to the EU with our European friends and neighbours.

[WinstonMelbourne-vtvt]

we made a big mistake by leaving, and this will and must change don't give up on us please, and yes we must accept this fact, Brexit will take down any government that tries to make it work, I give the Labour leader 2 years he will bend or be broken by it,

[maartenaalsmeer]

'Resetting' ties with the EU will be possible only on a small scale. British media outlets often mention 'renegotiating' Brexit and altering the TCA, but what's on the EU calendar in 2026 is only a *review* on how the TCA has been implemented so far. European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic warned the UK in back in 2023 that this review would only cover the *implementation* of the deal rather than wholesale changes. Mr Sefcovic said customs checks at the border would likely remain and stressed that the TCA had not been used to its “full potential”. He said the review doesn’t constitute a commitment to reopen the TCA or to negotiate supplementary agreements. “The TCA will simply not be able to recreate any kind of notion of the single market.”

[kaikaiser]

The Scottish people didn't vote to leave the EU! They voted to leave not us

[janpetersen]

I have never really understood why UK voters voted the UK out of the EU. But that's their problem.

[philipdouglas]

Starmer wants to grow the economy but to do so he needs to tackle the drag anchor on it which is costing around 4% of GDP. Closer ties or re entry into the single market is the only way that he will have to make headway but ultimately we will have to rejoin. We are living in a global economy where our isolationist stance is folly.

[Sebastian-pcqf]

We have never left the EU ?
9 years it taken to still be connected to the EU?

[einseitig]

Being in the UK is depressing.
Despite voting to Remain, I cannot foresee the EU welcoming us back and even EEA, EFTA and Single Market participation will take a generation to achieve.
The UK will have to look successful before that rather than the broken state it is now is.
The Conservatives have left a mess that will take a long time to fix given the size of the debts they have left behind.
We have lots of people who like to blame anyone but themselves for the problems that beset us.
Too many vote Conservative by default and will be prepared to do so again in five years.
Immigration is used a quick fix to get out of jail but is becoming less and less effective through over use and a lack of housing stock, which only exacerbates a real problem we have with housing affordability.
Although we need skilled workers we tend to allow droves of low skilled migrants in to do services sector / gig economy jobs such as mini-cab driving, parcel and food delivery driver / riders. In London alone we have 100k licensed mini-cab drivers. Yes 100, 000.
These people need hospitals, doctors and nurses too.
In fact our population has risen from 58m in 2000 to 68m today.
There is hope but our politicians are usually obsessed with re-election to grasp some of the more difficult decisions that are needed so we end up in a spiral.
For example, our engineering disaster, HS2, need not have rocketed in the price from £33bn to £66bn+ but for the fact the politicians wanted more of it built in expensive tunnels to keep voters on side and voting Tory.
I hope the Labour party have to courage to change the voting system to proportional representation to break the cycle of tennis match-like government we currently have.
For example the Conservatives have at pains put in a policy of sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda the in-coming Labour party say they will scrap it.
In Europe (see a piece by Sky News) the German government is readying deportation flights to Iraq for failed asylum seekers, one of which states openly that he is off to France to attempt to reach the UK illegally because he fears deportation. Without the Rwanda plan we may end up like a lavatory.
But our politicians do not see or care about the mess they create.

[Belaziraf]

"Could UK election reset ties with EU?" Short answer : No.
"Could UK reset ties with EU?" Then the answer is yes. I mean real reset. It will take time for EU to agree the UK is politically stable and committed enough. So a second Brexit won't happen.
BUT it will take a very long time and real change in mindset of political classes and parties.
Second, UK has to keep in mind they will never get the perks they negotiated over more than half a century and gave up on in 2016. They will have to follow the same path and conditions as new applicants.

[daveturner]

Funny how no-one is talking about Putin's influence in the Brexit referendum.

[ZulkifliJamil-xs]

July 4th seems a new horizon and refreshingly new life and breathe to the UK citizens. The eventual results might be a mix but we wish success to all the constituencies.

[Nomadicmillennial]

People are confusing recognising Brexit being a mistake, as the same thing as People wanting to Rejoin. Being asked how would you vote in a referendum now, is different to being asked should we even have another referendum. Most people I know who voted remain, would have rather we stayed in, but are no longer particularly interested in re-running the debate. Hence the stance of the Labour Party. If another referendum was the overwhelming popular opinion amongst the voters, the Labour Party would have made a second referendum a part of its manifesto.

[itscooldawgdonteventrip]

As a french I am okay with British being out. Immigration change the politics of Europe without the mess of migration maybe the UK guys would never vote for Brexit. And tomorrow maybe the french will vote for the RN and without immigration ( the bad sides ) maybe those guys would have never won.
Immigration without any control and rules created a solution that is making democracy as risk of populist. But the problems are real.
= I am black .
I know it wil be worst and bad before it gets better.
I am currently bracing for impact. The Whole Europeans continent might go feral for maybe 2 decades before it become calm and civilised again. All that because of bad immigration policies.

[Liamhcw]

Absolutely not! The UK can do whatever it wants, but Europe has moved on. Brexit is Brexit… we did not want it, you chose it, you keep it. Europe was never forcing you at gunpoint. After all the hate and lies, there is no place for the UK to come back or expect anyone to want them back.

[JohnnyinMN]

England needs serious education on how the world really functions. Unfortunately, relying on 18th century fantasies doesn’t work. The Euro and Schengen are words I suggest you begin using more frequently. You have no choice.

[louvendran]

The lying needs stop. How politicians, salesmen or lawyers get work then? I do agree though.

[lesmarsden]

A very interesting discussion, and I very much agree with Graham Watsons views.
But failure to agree a solution for musicians has devastated the music industry. It was entirely foreseeable and sheer incompetence on the part of the U.K. negotiators on Brexit on this and other matters including fishing and agriculture.