Rachel Reeves has said the EU remains the "obvious" key ally for Britain as ties shift away from the US. The former Labour chancellor said the country must make the EU its major political partner as she criticised Donald Trump for making "American allies poorer" through tariffs and military action around the world.
Speaking to the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School on Monday, she said: "I profoundly disagree with Mr Trump's choices that have made America's allies poorer."
Reeves on US and Europe
Ms Reeves added: "Whether through arbitrary tariffs, military action in Iran, or the administration's attitude to Ukraine's fight for freedom, you don't get stronger by weakening your allies. For Britain, there's obvious economic interests, common values, and basic geography which all point towards Europe... Britain's future lies inside the European Union."
She said the bloc represented the "single biggest opportunity to boost living standards and generate the revenue to invest in public services, but also deepening our security".
Brexit cost and EU ties
Ms Reeves said: "Estimates now put the cost of Brexit as high as 8% of GDP or £200 billion. It is simply not serious for anyone who claims to have a plan of better services and lower taxes to ignore such stark evidence."
The Labour MP argued that it was up to the Labour Government to convince both the British public and the EU, which she described as "serious and open to compromise". She added that this month's EU-UK Summit was the perfect opportunity to put forward Britain's case and to deepen their "dynamic alignments".
Ms Reeves said Labour has been working since Brexit to rebuild ties with the EU, including toward the return of the Erasmus student exchange programme. She also pointed to the UK's contribution to the Ukraine Support Loan and plans to develop a revised Youth Mobility Scheme which would make it easier for people aged 18 to 30 to enter the UK for employment.
The Prime Minister was pressed by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch during Question Time in Parliament last week about whether he wanted to hold another referendum on rejoining the EU.
"There is no confusion at all," Mr Burnham replied. "The Government has a collectively agreed position, which I have set out today. It is entirely consistent with everything that I've said, including in the by-election. The red lines in our manifesto, including on freedom of movement, will stay in place firmly for the whole of this Parliament."
