Could the UK really be pulled back into the EU?
Labour accused of ‘stealth’ tactics as polls suggest solid majority now think Brexit should be reversed

Keir Starmer has been accused of trying to drag the UK back into the European Union through the back door after it was revealed that Labour is considering plans to enfranchise millions of EU citizens.
The proposals, which would allow EU nationals who live permanently in the UK and pay tax to vote in general elections, “are seen as highly likely to benefit Sir Keir’s party at future elections by expanding the electorate by some 3.4 million EU nationals”, reported The Telegraph.
This would effectively be “laying the groundwork to drag the UK back into the EU by stealth”, Conservative Party chair Greg Hands claimed, arguing it was “an attempt to rig the electorate to rejoin the EU”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Rejoining the EU ‘by stealth’
Hands stressed that “the right to vote in parliamentary elections and choose the next UK government is rightly restricted to British citizens and those with the closest historical links to our country”. He pointed out that “no other EU country allows EU citizens who are not their nationals to vote in parliamentary elections”.
Labour has sought to downplay claims the proposals amount to “gerrymandering”, with allies of Starmer saying the details of the policy were still being worked out and would only apply to EU nationals who had paid tax in Britain for a number of years.
Yet “even the idea of a limited extension of the franchise to longstanding UK residents from the EU would be controversial”, said the Financial Times, “given migrants are considered more likely to support Labour than the Conservatives”.
Tory peer and polling expert Lord Hayward “warned the move could backfire by deterring former Labour supporters in the party’s traditional heartlands from returning to the fold”, said The Telegraph.
“I think this would be an unwise move if they are going to attempt to recapture Leave voters in what are essentially Red Wall or traditional marginal constituencies,” he said.
Bregret but not Brejoin
While Brexit was once viewed by Tory strategists as “Starmer’s achilles heel”, the Labour leader has found a middle-ground that “frustrates many in Labour’s pro-Remain membership but is in tune with public opinion”, said Andrew Grice in The Independent.
With the much-trailed “Brexit dividends” failing to materialise, the most recent opinion polls show a solid majority now think Brexit was a bad idea, with an average of 58% of people wanting to be in the EU compared to 42% who are keen to be outside the bloc.
“But doing something different back then is not the same as wanting to undo things now,” said the UK in a Changing Europe think tank. “Polling on what should happen now is much more ambivalent: when given more than a simple ‘in/out’ choice, people think positively about having a closer relationship, but the appetite for returning to EU membership is much more of a push.”
There may be “growing Bregret”, said Luke Tryl, director of More in Common, but there is “little appetite for Brejoin”. At least not at the moment.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 naturally disastrous editorial cartoons about FEMA
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on FEMA, the hurricane season, and the This is Fine meme
-
Amanda Feilding: the serious legacy of the 'Crackpot Countess'
In the Spotlight Nicknamed 'Lady Mindbender', eccentric aristocrat was a pioneer in the field of psychedelic research
-
Green bean, almond and peach salad recipe
The Week Recommends Thomas Straker's fresh dish is summer in a bowl
-
The Chagos Islands: Starmer's 'lousy deal'
Talking Point The PM's adherence to 'legalism' has given Mauritius a 'gift from British taxpayers'
-
'Gen Z has been priced out of a future, so we invest in the present'
instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Angela Rayner: Labour's next leader?
Today's Big Question A leaked memo has sparked speculation that the deputy PM is positioning herself as the left-of-centre alternative to Keir Starmer
-
How the civil service works – and why critics say it needs reform
The Explainer Keir Starmer wants to 'rewire' Whitehall, which he has claimed is too 'comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline'
-
Brexit 'reset' deal: how will it work?
In Depth Keir Stamer says the deal is a 'win-win', but he faces claims that he has 'surrendered' to Brussels on fishing rights
-
Are we entering the post-Brexit era?
Today's Big Question Keir Starmer's 'big bet' with his EU reset deal is that 'nobody really cares' about Brexit any more
-
Is Starmer's plan to send migrants overseas Rwanda 2.0?
Today's Big Question Failed asylum seekers could be removed to Balkan nations under new government plans
-
Can Starmer sell himself as the 'tough on immigration' PM?
Today's Big Question Former human rights lawyer 'now needs to own the change – not just mouth the slogans' to win over a sceptical public