UK minister breaks Brexit taboo, says return to EU is ‘inevitable’

A serving UK minister has publicly declared that Britain will eventually return to the European Union, becoming the first member of any British government since Brexit to endorse such a prospect and reopening debate over the country’s long-term relationship with the bloc.

Lord Spencer Livermore, a junior minister at the Treasury and a close ally of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has become the first member of the government to publicly suggest that the UK could eventually reverse course on Brexit and rejoin the European Union.

His remarks in the House of Lords go beyond Labour’s 2024 election manifesto, which explicitly ruled out rejoining the EU, the single market or the customs union.

During a debate in the Lords, Livermore responded to comments regarding the government’s approach to so-called “Brexit dividends”, arguing that the economic costs of leaving the EU far outweighed any benefits.

“It takes a Brexit fanatic to argue that cutting tariffs gains us 0.001% of GDP, while Brexit itself has cost us, at a minimum, 4% of GDP,” he said, adding that some estimates now place the economic loss at between 6% and 8% of GDP.

“Should we be back in the EU in the future? Well, of course, my personal opinion is that it is an inevitability,” Livermore said.

“Of course the UK will at some point return to the EU because it is absolutely in our national economic interest. In the meantime, we are pursuing the European reset, which is incredibly important to support economic growth.”

Starmer has repeatedly ruled out rejoining the EU, the single market or the customs union, instead focusing on a broader “reset” of relations with Brussels through closer cooperation on trade, defence and mobility.

The comments come as Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, continues to top national opinion polls in 2026, reflecting a broader realignment in British politics since the 2024 general election and complicating Labour’s efforts to define its long-term post-Brexit strategy.

Labour debate reignited

Livermore’s comments come amid increasingly vocal pro-European rhetoric from senior Labour figures and growing speculation about the party’s future direction. Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, widely seen as a potential contender in any future leadership contest, recently described the 2016 Brexit vote as “a catastrophic mistake” that had left Britain “less rich, less powerful and less in control”.

“We need a new special relationship with the EU because Britain’s future is in Europe, and one day we will be back in the European Union,” Streeting said.

Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan called on Starmer earlier this year to deepen the government’s European reset agenda, describing Brexit as “the greatest act of economic self-harm a country has ever carried out”.

Conservative politicians swiftly criticised Livermore’s intervention, arguing that it undermines the result of the 2016 referendum. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed the debate as “a sign of a Labour Party without a plan for the country”, accusing Labour of wanting “to return to battles that were settled long ago”.

Brexit at ten

The debate over the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU has intensified ahead of the tenth anniversary of the Brexit referendum, with recent polling indicating growing public support for closer ties with the bloc.

At the institutional level, the Starmer government is negotiating a series of post-Brexit agreements with Brussels aimed at reducing trade barriers and expanding cooperation in key sectors.

Should the UK seek to rejoin the EU, it would be required to apply through the standard accession process. There is no special mechanism for former member states and no fast-track route back into the bloc.

Georg Riekeles, a former adviser to the EU’s Brexit task force, recently argued that EU member states would likely welcome such a move but would insist on full compliance with the bloc’s rules.

“There is no appetite to reopen the door to decades of British exceptionalism,” he said. “The price of returning would be acceptance of the normal conditions of membership.”

Sources: Focus Europe.it, Telegraph.uk

Caption: Pro-EU campaigners gather outside the UK parliament in London, Britain, 15 April 2026. The UK government is considering adopting EU single market rules under new legislation that would allow the UK to adopt new EU laws without a parliamentary vote. EPA/ANDY RAIN