Sir Keir Starmer has refused to say whether he would like to see Britain rejoin the EU in his lifetime amid growing pressure on the prime minister to carve out closer ties with the bloc.
It comes after Andy Burnham , who is widely expected to challenge the prime minister for the Labour leadership , previously said he hopes he sees Britain rejoin the bloc during his lifetime.
Asked whether he would like the same, Sir Keir told reporters at the G7 Summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, that “we shouldn’t spend the whole time looking backwards to Brexit ”.
He said: “We have been very clear that we want a closer relationship with the EU. And that is what we're achieving. So, last year we had a summit with the EU, had 10 strands to that which involved defence, security, trade, the economy and emissions.
“The work that we're doing on youth mobility that is already work in hand. We now have a further summit this year, on the 22nd of July.
“I had a very successful bilateral with Ursula [von der Leyan, President of the European Commission] yesterday, and that will be an opportunity for us to build on what we've already achieved, and to bring the EU and the UK closer together.
“I think that's the right thing to do.” He added: "And one of the reasons that we've been able to make such good progress with the EU is, firstly, a joint recognition by myself and EU leaders, that we shouldn't spend the whole time looking backwards to Brexit, and going over and over the Brexit vote.
Keir Starmer warned people against ‘looking backwards to Brexit’ (PA)
“We should look forward to what a relationship with the EU looks like. And the second is, we agreed that we wouldn't do diplomacy by sort of shouting into megaphones. We actually do it in a professional, quiet way, and we've made real progress with that.”
Pressed on whether he would want to see Britain rejoin the bloc in his lifetime, he dodged the question, instead referring to Labour ’s manifesto pledge, which stands until the end of this parliament.
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"We've got a clear manifesto commitment in terms of not rejoining the EU, and that's why we've gone for the closer relationship that we're building. We're slowly but surely building with the EU”, he said.
Labour has ruled out rejoining the single market or customs union during this parliament, as well as ruling out any return to freedom of movement. But the debate over Brexit was reignited in the last few weeks after leadership rival Wes Streeting called for Britain to rejoin.
“We need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe, and one day- one day - back in the European Union”, he said.
The Greater Manchester mayor has made no secret of his Labour leadership ambitions (PA Wire)
Despite Mr Burnham’s claim that he’d like to see Britain rejoin, he later promised not to “re-run” Brexit arguments, insisting he was not proposing a plan to rejoin as part of his leadership bid.
He said Brexit had been “damaging” but warned that “Britain will be stuck in a permanent rut if we’re just constantly arguing”.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir has put a reset of relations with the European Union front and centre in his plan for government, pursuing closer ties with the bloc including plans for a youth mobility scheme which would allow young people to live and work across the UK and Europe.
On Tuesday, the PM, alongside EU council president Antonia Costa, finally announced the date of second UK-EU summit, set to take place on July 22.
Despite initial speculation that the summit could have been delayed until the autumn amid reports that talks over a youth mobility scheme were caught in a deadlock, the announcement dispelled fears of a loss of momentum.
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