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+--- Thread: British PM faces Labour revolt over closer EU ties (rebel community) (/thread-19446.html)
British PM faces Labour revolt over closer EU ties (rebel community) - C C - Dec 23, 2025
https://www.euractiv.com/news/british-pm-starmer-faces-revolt-over-closer-eu-ties/
NEWS: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a rebellion from one of his most senior Labour colleagues over the UK’s relationship with Brussels. UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said on Sunday that Britain should pursue closer economic ties with the European Union, remarks widely interpreted as a call to rejoin the bloc’s customs union.
“The best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU,” Streeting said. “We’ve taken a massive economic hit leaving the European Union.”
Successive British governments since Brexit have ruled out reentering the customs union, arguing it would leave London unable to strike its own trade deals and entail signing up to heaps of EU rules it would be unable to shape.
Streeting said that allowing freedom of movement – an EU condition for full access to the single market – remains a red line for London. However, freedom of movement is not a prerequisite for joining the customs union, as illustrated by Turkey, which participates in a customs union with the EU while its citizens do not have the right to live and work in the 27-country bloc, and vice versa.
Starmer has repeatedly rebuffed calls for closer ties with the European Union, mindful that his likely main challenger at the next election is Nigel Farage, whose populist, anti-immigration Reform UK is polling well ahead of Labour Party.
Labour, under Starmer, has adopted a more muscular immigration stance, and has developed a cautious “reset” in its relations with Brussels, aiming to improve cooperation in limited areas, including defence and the Eramsus student mobility program.
Streeting is not the first senior member of government to float the idea of rejoining the customs union. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy talked up the economic benefits countries like Turkey are seeing from customs union membership earlier this month, only to be slapped down by Starmer.
A spokesperson for Starmer, quoted by Sky News on Monday, again ruled out rejoining the customs union. The pro-EU Liberal Democrats party has been making the case for customs union membership, but it is only polling at around 3%.
This year, the European Union clinched a deal with Indonesia and a handshake agreement with Donald Trump, but missed its India deadline and failed to conclude the Mercosur deal. By contrast, the United Kingdom sealed a trade pact with India and secured lower US tariffs than the EU.