Britain should seek closer alignment with EU single market, Starmer says

LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) – Britain should seek closer alignment with the European single market on an “issue-by-issue” basis when it is in the national interest, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday.

Starmer told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg the relationship between Britain and the European Union was stronger than it had been in a decade. Britons narrowly voted to leave the EU in a referendum in 2016.

“I think we should get closer, and if it’s in our national interest to have even closer alignment with the single market, then we should consider that, we should go that far,” he said.

“I think it’s in our national interest to go further.”

Last month, London and Brussels agreed to allow British students to join the Erasmus+ exchange programme from 2027, start talks on electricity market integration and finalise a food and drink trade deal.

“What I am saying is, there are other areas where we should consider whether it’s in our interest to do the same and align with the single market,” he said, adding that relations needed to be considered on a “issue-by-issue, sector-by-sector basis”.

The opposition Conservatives, who were in power at the time of the Brexit referendum in 2016 and Britain’s departure from the bloc in 2020, said “Labour’s Brexit betrayal is becoming clearer by the day”.

“In a desperate bid to appease his backbenchers, Keir Starmer is pursuing alignment with the Single Market – surrendering our freedom to cut regulation and strike our own trade deals,” foreign affairs spokesperson Priti Patel said.

Starmer said in the BBC interview he would still be in power this time next year, in the face of low poll numbers and speculation about a possible leadership challenge.

His Labour Party is trailing the populists Reform UK in opinion polls 18 months after winning a landslide victory in the 2024 national election.

Asked if there were any circumstances in which he could stand down if a poor showing in local elections in May prompted a challenge to his leadership, he said he would stay the course.

“Under the last government we saw constant chopping and changing of leadership, of teams — it caused utter chaos, utter chaos, and it’s amongst the reasons that the Tories (Conservatives) were booted out so effectively at the last election,” he said. “Nobody wants to go back to that.”

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Andrew Heavens)