Overview
- In remarks at the LSE hosted by Bruegel, the chancellor framed closer EU ties as the most valuable path to faster growth, noting that almost half of UK trade is with the bloc.
- She said further integration would require further alignment and that Britain could adopt EU regulations unilaterally in specific sectors to lower barriers for businesses.
- Reeves highlighted financial services as a prime area for deeper alignment and pressed for faster defence cooperation through interoperability and joint procurement.
- Officials are pursuing sector-by-sector talks with Brussels, including a youth mobility scheme targeted for agreement later this year, led by Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, and she cited the UK’s return to Erasmus as recent progress.
- Conservative and Reform UK figures accused Labour of seeking to reverse Brexit, as the government reiterated its manifesto red lines against rejoining the single market, the customs union or restoring freedom of movement.