Brexit Turning Point as MPs Line Up to Make the Case for Rejoining the EU

Labour backbenchers have been unleashed to push strongly for rejoining the European Union, after the Prime Minister opened the door to reversing Brexit, during his Labour conference speech and a pro-European statement in Parliament on Monday.

In a backbench debate on Monday evening in Parliament, Labour MPs responded to the shift by calling for Britain’s return to the EU.

So many Labour MPs turned up to call for more integration that the chair imposed a four-minute limit on speeches. Usually these Westminster Hall debates struggle to attract more than a handful of speakers.

Just three MPs defended the status quo: Sir Bernard Jenkin (Con), Danny Kruger (Reform) and the shadow Conservative minister Mike Wood.

And while the minister present did not go further than the PM, Labour backbenchers went considerably beyond the Government line. The Prime Minister has said all options are on the table for the UK’s future relationship with Europe – after the next election – and pro-EU MPs have seized on the momentum.

The debate followed an official petition to rejoin the EU with 111,687 signatures.

Tony Vaughan (Lab, Folkestone and Hythe) told the hall that the terms of Brexit were “never defined” and served the interests of countries like Russia that want “Britain’s influence weakened and Europe fractured”.

It follows the Prime Minister raising concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 referendum, with Andy Burnham saying it was “inconceivable” that President Putin had not sought to meddle in the campaign.

Vaughan described post-Brexit trade bureaucracy as “nail after nail being hammered into a coffin” for Britain’s economy.

Fellow Labour backbencher Deirdre Costigan said Leave voters were “bombarded with lies” during the referendum, as she welcomed the PM’s new national centre for information defence.

Afzal Khan MP, a former member of the European Parliament, said Brexit “has been a disaster for young people”.

And Labour’s Tulip Siddiq said her local flower seller’s tulip prices have been forced up 50% since 2020, apparently due to Brexit. Tulip’s tulip concerns were picked up on with some amusement.

Another Labour MP, Rachael Maskell, called for a deliberative citizens’ process to shape “the next manifesto commitment”, though minister Mark Ferguson would not commit to it.

While Ben Coleman (Lab) welcomed the PM’s readiness to look at “a customs union, a single market and full membership” of the EU, he called for a manifesto pledge to negotiate joining, followed by a referendum on the deal: “In 2016, people voted on an idea… Next time, they would vote on a deal.”

Stella Creasy MP, who is strongly pro-EU, did call for some realism, noting that 21 accession countries took an average of nine years to join the bloc.

But Daniel Zeichner MP argued that EU ministers “want us back”, adding: “We are Europeans, and we should be in.”

Meanwhile Dr Scott Arthur issued a pointed jab that “politicians who take bribes from Russia” may have benefited from Brexit, adding “that person is in jail” – a reference to former Wales Reform leader Nathan Gill, currently serving prison time over bribery offences relating to his time as an MEP.

Peter Swallow summed up the mood – that Parliament is “catching up to the conversations” that never went away in the country.

Pro-Europe opposition parties agreed. Lib Dem Paul Kohler said Brexit was backed by “Putin, Trump and the Member for Mar-a-Lago and Moscow” but criticised the PM for being “wedded to his predecessor’s red lines” on not joining the customs union or single market in this Parliament.

Commenting on troubles faced by businesses in his seat due to Brexit bureaucracy, he said “stale bread and dead flowers” were “a fitting epitaph to Brexit.”

The Scottish National Party’s Pete Wishart offered a critical note on the Government, noting the PM’s statement “did not talk about rejoining”.

But Carla Denyer of the Greens welcomed that “we have now heard the PM confirm that there was Russian interference in the referendum.”

And independent MP Iqbal Mohamed called Brexit “the biggest fraud in the history of Britain.”

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Brexit’s Few Defenders

Reform’s Danny Kruger was one of the few pro-Brexit voices, claiming that goods exports have suffered not due to Brexit but energy policy and remaining alignment with the EU.

He blamed “poor Government choices, made under the Conservatives and Labour” for Brexit’s failures. Kruger left before the end of the debate.

Cornish Labour MP Perran Moon called Conservative MP Jenkin and Reform’s Kruger “two King Cnuts shouting at the sea”. The minister later joked about the need to enunciate that one carefully.

For the Conservatives, shadow minister Mike Wood MP said the petition asks MPs to “casually” overturn “the largest democratic vote in British history on a Monday afternoon”.

He claimed rejoining was not like renewing “an expired gym membership”, and that “Brussels does not accept refunds”.

And he argued the UK would join as a candidate alongside Albania and North Macedonia, with a binding obligation to adopt the euro and join Schengen. These points would be negotiated during talks on rejoining. There is no deadline for new EU member states to join the euro, and Ireland has an opt-out of Schengen due to the Common Travel Area with the UK, so it is likely the UK would also have an opt-out.

Wood pledged Kemi Badenoch’s party would “fiercely resist” a return “through the front door or the back”.

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The Government Line

Responding to the petition, minister Mark Ferguson said Brexit “has not given us control” and “has done more harm than good”. He quoted the PM, saying: “Sticking with the status quo is not good enough for Britain.”

The PM will set out long-term options on Britain’s relationship with the EU around the 20 November summit, at which a deal for closer integration is expected to be announced between the UK and the bloc. Ferguson called these measures, including an Erasmus+ youth experience scheme, “the floor, not the ceiling” of the Government’s ambitions.

Speaker after speaker referenced Russia’s role in Brexit, long covered by Byline Times. Labour’s Tony Vaughan MP said: “In whose interest was Brexit? It was certainly in the interest of countries such as Russia that want to see Britain’s influence weakened and Europe fractured. With Brexit, that is what they got.”

And Lib Dem Caroline Voaden said: “Ten years ago, the British public voted to leave the EU by a wafer-thin margin in a referendum marred by mistruths, deception and Russian interference. Our exit was then badly planned, badly executed and damaged the UK’s economic prospects and political reputation.”

The campaign has well and truly begun.

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