Sir Keir Starmer is planning to make Brexit the key dividing line at the next general election as the government attempts to claw back voters lost to Reform UK, The Independent understands.
After the prime minister vowed to “reset” relations and bring the UK into closer alignment with the EU, following years of strained relations under the Tories, Labour believes it is the only political party with a position on Brexit that reflects the views of the general public.
Ten years on from the referendum, polling generally shows that a majority of voters think that Brexit is not currently working and want closer ties with the bloc. However, a majority seem to think that rejoining should not be a priority for the government.
After tacking to the right on migration, with a clampdown on illegal Channel crossings and ministers ramping up their rhetoric on the issue, it is on EU relations that the government believes it can strike a clear dividing line with opposition parties.
Government sources told The Independent that party attack units plan to paint Nigel Farage as an “ideological zealot” who is putting his anti-EU beliefs ahead of striking trade agreements which would benefit the UK economy.
“Farage doesn’t actually want to talk about Brexit any more because he knows his project has failed,” one said, pointing to the negative impact that Britain’s exit from the EU has had on the economy.
It is understood the government is hoping to have its SPS deal – a proposed agreement with the EU to remove most health certificates and routine border checks on food and agricultural standards – over the line by summer.
This, ministers hope, would give businesses a significant “buffer period” before the deal comes into force ahead of a 2029 general election.
“We want to have a real political fight over this,” one government source told The Independent, saying that ministers believe they can make the point that Reform and the Tories are putting an ideological opposition to the EU ahead of “what voters actually want and the best interests of the economy”.
A second government source said that if ministers can get an SPS agreement operational before the election, they could argue that a Farage-led government would unpick progress and increase trade barriers for businesses.
In the 2024 election campaign, Labour took the approach of avoiding Brexit altogether in an attempt not to reopen the old wounds associated with the debate – a strategy that, despite the party’s landslide win, was widely criticised.
Meanwhile polling guru Sir John Curtice said that openly pushing for closer ties with the EU would come with risks – as some voters could be concerned about trade-offs such as accepting some EU laws. He said that Labour “should be able to convince the majority of their supporters that it’s a good idea” if they are “willing to argue for it in a way they haven’t been willing to do so far”.
Sir John told The Independent: “The attempt of Labour and the Liberal Democrats to make it go away in the last parliament did not, for the most part, largely succeed.”
He added: “Everybody wants to get rid of customs checks… but of course, we aren’t going to get the absence of custom checks for free.”
Referencing closer alignment with the EU, Sir John said: “Given the balance of public opinion on Brexit, and so long as they can win the framing argument, then maybe they could convince the majority of the public, and certainly should be able to convince the majority of their supporters that it’s a good idea. But there is work to do.
“They’re going to have to be willing to argue for it in a way they haven’t been willing to do so far,” he said.
YouGov polling from July 2025 shows that 61 per cent of Britons think Brexit has been been more of a failure than a success, while almost two-thirds (65 per cent) now want to see a closer relationship with the EU.
While most Britons may support a return to the EU (56 per cent), they are less convinced that it is a priority at the current time.
Some 44 per cent said attempting to rejoin would be the wrong priority for the government at the current time when balanced against the other issues the UK currently faces, compared to 37 per cent who believe it would be the right priority.
Naomi Smith, chief executive of pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain, said:“Our extensive polling shows that, for now, the broadest voter support lies in a closer relationship with the EU that stops short of customs union or single market membership. But public attitudes are shifting quickly.
“As Ukraine bravely defends Europe against an encroaching Russia, and a Trump-led United States proves an increasingly unreliable ally, while the affordability crisis deepens at home, more Britons are looking to our neighbours in Europe as essential partners for both economic stability and collective security.”
As part of the government’s attempt to win over voters, it is understood ministers are hoping to put together a number of stunts in the coming months to demonstrate the tangible impacts of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal on small businesses, such as a “save our garden centres” campaign aimed at highlighting how trade barriers on plants have crippled the sector – something it is hoped could be remedied by an SPS deal.
Just weeks after Sir Keir insisted Britain should “go further” in strengthening post-Brexit ties with Brussels following a trade deal agreed earlier this year, it is also understood ministers are eyeing up other areas of possible cooperation with the EU, including on financial services and steel.
As ministers hash out the terms of a possible youth mobility scheme with the EU – which could see tens of thousands of young British and European citizens given the right to live and work in each other’s countries – one government source said they are now open to “anything under the sun” when it comes to striking trade agreements with the EU.
The fresh push to sell Labour’s approach to the EU comes amid growing concern over the direction of the government, devastating approval ratings and a spluttering economy.
The party has been haemorrhaging votes to Reform UK, which is now sitting around 10 points ahead of Labour.
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