Keir Starmer, who will almost certainly be the UK’s next prime minister, has ruled out a full or partial Brexit reversal in the next parliament. But could he put the issue back on the agenda for the parliament after that?
Even if he wants to, I struggle to see how he can. I see the main constraint not in UK politics, but in regulatory divergence. Of the two, it is the EU that has diverged most. It has been a hyper-active regulator and lawmaker since Brexit formally took place in 2020. The European Green Deal is a large collection of laws – more than 50, depending on how you count them. Led by Thierry Breton, the French industry commissioner, the EU has also become more protectionist and less pro-digital. The EU is the first region in the world to come up with a restrictive regulation of AI. The Digital Markets Act, which came into force a year ago, constitutes a bulwark of micro-regulations about how digital companies and social media providers are allowed to operate. The EU is in the process of imposing tariffs on Chinese electric cars. I don’t think it would make sense for the UK to emulate most of these rules.
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