According to a Labour MP, the UK rejoining the EU is a viable option.
A member of Labour’s shadow Cabinet said that Britain’s future may lie within the EU or in close economic ties.
“In the long run, I can see Britain rejoining the EU,” they said. Or, at the very least, an economic relationship that is essentially the same.”
Brexit has shown signs of life in recent months, with reports that the UK may seek a “Swiss-style” agreement to open up trade with the EU in order to boost its economy.
Downing Street labelled suggestions “categorically untrue” despite suggestions the UK is seeking a more positive relationship with the EU.
The Sunday Times reported in November that a ‘Swiss-style’ move could occur over the next decade as the Government seeks a closer relationship with the EU that avoids current trade barriers.
Any such shift, coming only a few years after Boris Johnson negotiated a deal with the EU after years of back-and-forth, would likely enrage Tory Brexiteers.
Downing Street sources denied the report, but the Times claimed that behind closed doors, some in the government have indicated that pursuing a frictionless trading relationship with the EU necessitates moving to a Swiss-style arrangement over the next ten years.
The UK and the EU have been in talks for a long time about the Northern Ireland Protocol, a post-Brexit arrangement for the region designed to avoid a border on the island of Ireland.