By Alistair Smout
LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) – Rejoining the European Union would not “magically solve” Britain’s issues, even if the country’s long-term future lies with Europe, business and trade minister Peter Kyle will say on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to improve trade ties with the country’s biggest trading partner and criticised the economic damage caused by the original Brexit deal – but he has rejected any suggestion of rejoining the bloc.
However, damaging local and regional election results have put his grip on power into question, and potential candidates to replace Starmer have pushed the issue back up the political agenda by talking about maybe rejoining the bloc in the future.
“I still believe Britain’s future lies with Europe. But I also believe we must be honest about where we are,” Kyle said in extracts of a speech he was due to give at an annual trade dinner.
He said he was frustrated that some during the campaign to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum had implied it would solve Britain’s problems, but added that “equally, rejoining tomorrow would not magically solve them either.”
“I worry that some are now making the equal (and) opposite mistake by suggesting the solution to all of our economic challenges, and a whole lot more, can be solved by rejoining.”
Wes Streeting, the former health minister who quit Starmer’s government last month and is expected to contest any future leadership race, has advocated rejoining the EU “one day”, though Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, the favourite to succeed Starmer, has said he is not proposing to rejoin the EU.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by William James)
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