London Mayor Khan presses Starmer to rejoin the EU

Brussels – The next general election in the United Kingdom is scheduled for 2029, but the Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, already has a clear vision of what should be one of the central points of the manifesto with which his party leader and current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, will have to present himself to the electorate: the promise to rejoin the European Union, without even holding a second referendum. In an exclusive interview granted today (19 March) to La Repubblica, Khan reflects on the ten years that have passed since the June 2016 referendum, in which 51.9 per cent of Britons voted in favour of the UK leaving the EU, and takes stock of the consequences of that decision. 

“I have witnessed first-hand, day in, day out, the damage that Brexit has caused not only to London as a city, but to the Londoners who live here, in every respect: socially, economically and culturally,” said the capital’s mayor since 2016. Khan backs up his arguments with recently published data: figures from the think tank National Institute of Economic and Social Research, which, together with Goldman Sachs, has calculated that over the past ten years “the British economy would have grown by a further 10 per cent without Brexit“. And the figures for the capital seem to confirm this: “In 2019, we had 840,000 European citizens in London; today there are only 700,000. The city’s economy is worth 30 billion less due to leaving the EU, and in the meantime we have lost 230,000 jobs,” explained the Labour mayor. 

In light of all this, Khan believes that “we should be unequivocal about the benefits of Europe, especially after seeing what the alternative is.” “Once we rejoin the EU and its trade mechanisms,” he added, “the cost of living would fall significantly: it is no coincidence that when we joined the European Economic Community in the 1970s, we were the sick man of Europe, and since then we have returned to being a great nation.”

 The roadmap proposed by the mayor is – at least on paper – straightforward: “First, the current Parliament should work towards rejoining the Customs Union and the Single Market. After that, the Labour Party should run in the next general election with a clear commitment in its manifesto: a vote for Labour is a vote to rejoin the EU, without the need for a new referendum”, he stated. 

What has convinced Khan even more that rejoining the EU is “inevitable” are the events that have unfolded on the international stage since the last general election in 2024. For the mayor, “Trump’s re-election in November 2024 has led to enormous economic and geopolitical instability”, inevitably weakening London’s “special relationship” with its traditional ally across the Atlantic. “The US President is imposing tariffs indiscriminately on friends and foes alike,” he explained, “and the launch of the war against Iran has added uncertainty to uncertainty, with effects on oil prices and the cost of living.” “Only God knows what Trump’s exit strategy is,” Khan said with true British humour. For this reason – so the reasoning goes – it is in the country’s interest to tackle the consequences of this chaos under the European umbrella.

 Khan’s views on relations with Brussels seem clear, but they will have to contend with the line Starmer and his ministers have taken so far. While it is true that the Labour Prime Minister has taken several steps to strengthen London’s ties with the EU (for example, the reopening of borders to Erasmus students), it is equally true that it has always said that he has no intention of pursuing a “counter-Brexit.” Just two days ago, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, stated that – while the UK should seek to align itself more closely with European rules to boost trade and reduce inflation – the government “does not want to turn back the clock on Brexit.” 

For the time being, the view coming out of London City Hall that “the UK’s future lies within the EU” does not appear to have made it past the doors of 10 Downing Street.