Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves campaign on Tuesday. Photo: Justin Tallis/AFP
Sir Keir Starmer has called for closer ties with the European Union on education, defense and security.
The Labor Party leader said that to achieve this “there is no reason” to return to the EU and that the results of the 2016 Brexit vote should stand.
But Sir Keir, who campaigned for a second referendum as shadow Brexit secretary, said there was “huge room” for closer cooperation with the EU. block on defense, security, education and trade.
Speaking on the campaign trail on Tuesday, he said: “We have to take this on, build closer relationships, I think, not just on trade but also on defence. I think there is huge opportunity to work more closely in defense and security. And also, by the way, on education, I think we could work much more carefully.”
A potential area of agreement could be a return to the Erasmus student exchange program, which was created in 1987. It has seen millions of students spend time in EU countries as part of their university degrees.
On a visit to Stevenage Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves, his shadow chancellor, were asked about freedom of movement in Europe.
He said: “Obviously we had freedom of movement when we were members of the EU, but we don't have it anymore and we have no intention of going back. There is no reason to say that we will return to the EU – we had this referendum back in 2016, we got the result.”
After the Brexit agreement, Michel Barnier, the EU's Brexit negotiator, said that the decision Britain not participating in the Erasmus program was one of his main regrets in terms of social cooperation between the UK and Europe.
Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson said leaving the program “was a difficult decision” but said the decision was made for financial reasons.
The Scottish Labor leader, meanwhile, said a Labor government would “reset » relations with the EU after the “Brexit confusion”.
Anas Sarwar during the election campaign visiting the Aldomak confectionery factory in East Renfrewshire. Photo: Watty Cheung
Speaking on the campaign trail in East Renfrewshire, Anas Sarwar said the party would consider aligning laws and regulations with EU requirements where it was seen as beneficial, and said improved links could have a “transformative effect” “.
Mr Sarwar said: “We must fix the Brexit mess that was created by the Conservative Party – we must reset the relationship with our partners and friends in the European Union.”
“When I speak to Labor's sister party throughout the UK, when I talk to individual Union ambassadors or EU representatives, they are not actually asking Labor to commit to rejoining the European Union in this election campaign.
“They are asking for a commitment change relationships, reset relationships – and that's exactly what we're going to do.”
Mr Sarwar said Labor was “going to look at where the alignment works for us and is in our national interest, and we can look forward to taking that alignment further”. He predicted EU member states would take a closer look at a Labor government and “recognize that these are people we can work with.”
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