A senior UK Treasury minister has described Britain’s return to the European Union as “an inevitability,” becoming the first serving minister to publicly back rejoining the bloc, The Telegraph reports.
Speaking in the House of Lords on Monday, Financial Secretary to the Treasury Lord Spencer Livermore said that, in his personal view, the UK would eventually return to the EU because it was in the country’s economic interest.
“Of course the UK will re-enter the European Union, because it is absolutely in our national economic interest,” Livermore said during a debate in the Lords.
The minister also suggested that the UK government’s ongoing efforts to improve relations with Brussels could pave the way for deeper future integration.
“In the meantime, we are doing the European reset, and that is incredibly important in helping growth in our economy,” he said.
The comments appear to go beyond the position outlined in the Labour Party’s 2024 election manifesto, which pledged to improve relations with the EU while remaining outside the single market, customs union, and freedom of movement arrangements.
Livermore made the remarks while responding to Conservative peer Lord MacKinlay, who questioned whether closer ties with the EU could limit the government’s economic freedom.
The Treasury minister criticized Brexit, claiming it had caused significant economic damage to the UK. He argued that any benefits from reducing tariffs were outweighed by the broader economic costs of leaving the EU.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government has repeatedly stated that it does not intend to rejoin the EU, the single market, or the customs union.
The Telegraph noted that Livermore’s remarks are the strongest public endorsement of rejoining the EU made by a serving government minister since Brexit was approved by British voters in the 2016 referendum.
