Sir Sadiq Khan<\/a> called on the Labour Party to promise to rejoin the European Union<\/a> at the next general election, putting him at odds with the prime minister who has repeatedly ruled out undoing Brexit<\/a> and returning to the bloc.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Italian newspaper la Repubblica, the Mayor of London<\/a> outlined a roadmap for closer ties, including returning to both the customs union and the single market.<\/p>\n Sir Sadiq, who played a leading role in resisting the UK\u2019s departure from the EU, now believes there is a route back to membership.<\/p>\n In the interview, he highlighted Brexit’s detrimental impact, stating: \u201cI see on a daily basis the damage Brexit has done to not just London, but to Londoners, the damage economically, socially and culturally.\u201d Sir Sadiq was unequivocal: \u201cI\u2019m quite clear in terms of what needs to happen, which is, we should join the European Union.\u201d<\/p>\n The mayor cited the election of US President Donald Trump<\/a>, growing global instability, and the passage of time as reasons to revisit the issue, arguing \u201cthe facts have changed\u201d and \u201cthe evidence has changed\u201d. He insisted: \u201cWe should, as a Labour Party, fight the next general election with a clear manifesto commitment, a vote for Labour means we would rejoin the European Union. I think it\u2019s inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n But it comes after European affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, who is in charge of the reset negotiations between Britain and the EU<\/a>, told The Independent that he could not envisage the UK ever rejoining the bloc and ruled out any form of customs union.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI don\u2019t see us [rejoining]. I don\u2019t see us returning to the debates of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> has sought to \u201creset\u201d relations with Brussels in an effort to improve trade ties since his election in 2024, and earlier this week chancellor Rachel Reeves<\/a> warned the UK risked being \u201cstranded\u201d between rival trading blocs unless it forged closer ties with Brussels.<\/p>\n She said any divergence from EU regulations would be limited, describing it as \u201cthe exception, not the norm\u201d.<\/p>\n Ms Reeves added: \u201cOur fate as a country is inescapably bound with that of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time of the next joint summit later this year, the UK and EU want to finalise agreements on a youth mobility scheme, as well as establish a common sanitary and phytosanitary area and link their emissions trading systems.<\/p>\n In February, Downing Street dismissed the prospect of rejoining the customs union after European economic commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the bloc would be open to discussions.<\/p>\n No 10 sought to pour cold water on the idea, saying Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s government would be sticking to its red lines as it deepens ties with the EU.<\/p>\n The prime minister\u2019s official spokesperson said: \u201cWe will not be rejoining the customs union, the single market or returning to freedom of movement.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are our red lines as per the government\u2019s manifesto.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do want a closer economic partnership with the EU, but rejoining the customs union would unpick important trade agreements we\u2019ve reached, including our deals with the US and India.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-837530","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116259324428416931","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Sadiq](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PA-39226130.jpg\")
Sadiq Khan addresses anti-Brexit campaigners at a People\u2019s Vote rally in 2019 (PA)<\/p>\n![\"Minister](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/d1dfd013e2de636c1d641e2aab8bf1a1Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzYxNzYxNjM3-2.81362464.jpg\")
Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, in charge of EU negotiations, says he can\u2019t envisage the UK rejoining (PA Wire)<\/p>\n