Britain may have left through the wrong door
A decade after Britain chose to leave the European Union, a prominent Labour politician has broken the long silence of his party and named Brexit what many privately believed it to be: a historic error. Wes Streeting, speaking before the modernizing wing of Labour, has positioned himself as a potential future leader willing to ask not merely how Britain repairs its relationship with Europe, but whether it ever should have severed it. The statement arrives not as policy but as provocation — a line drawn in the sand of a political landscape still scarred by 2016, testing whether Britain is ready to revisit the question it thought it had already answered.
- Streeting broke years of Labour silence by calling Brexit a 'catastrophic mistake' and raising the prospect of UK reapplication to the EU — a statement with no precedent among senior figures in his party.
- His remarks landed as a direct challenge to Keir Starmer's cautious, repair-focused approach to Europe, accusing the current prime minister of governing without vision and closing the party to new ideas.
- Rejoining the EU is legally possible but politically treacherous: it would require unanimous approval from 27 member states, a new accession treaty, the loss of Britain's former exemptions, and almost certainly a second referendum.
- For pro-European and younger voters, Streeting's words offer the first honest reckoning they have heard from a potential Labour leader; for Nigel Farage and Reform UK, they are a ready-made weapon against the establishment.
- With no formal leadership race open and Starmer still in Downing Street, Streeting is staking ground early — signaling ambition, choosing his battles, and daring the party's other contenders to match his boldness.
Wes Streeting has not announced a candidacy for Labour leader. But he has done what candidates do before they can be one: he has chosen his ground and said aloud what his party has avoided for years. Speaking at a Progress conference — a gathering of Labour's modernizing wing — the former health secretary confirmed he would enter a leadership race if one opens, and used the occasion to call Brexit a 'catastrophic error' and propose a 'new special relationship' with Europe that could, eventually, lead to Britain rejoining the bloc.
He did not stop at Europe. He attacked Keir Starmer's leadership directly, accusing him of building a risk-averse culture closed to new ideas, of arriving in power unprepared, and of making catastrophic decisions on issues like winter heating support. His remarks also carried a specific competitive edge: with Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester, preparing a possible return to Parliament, Streeting declared that a leadership race without him would lack legitimacy — a statement that sounded collegial but functioned as a challenge.
The European question is the most explosive part of his platform. Starmer has preferred a politics of repair — fewer trade barriers, defense cooperation, perhaps a youth mobility scheme — carefully avoiding any suggestion of reversing Brexit itself. Streeting is pointing somewhere further: not patching the divorce, but questioning whether it should have happened at all.
Rejoining would be neither quick nor painless. Britain could apply under Article 49 of the EU treaty, but would need unanimous support from all 27 member states, approval from the European Parliament, and acceptance of a new accession agreement — without the budget rebates and political exemptions it once held. A new referendum would be almost inevitable, reopening the wound of 2016 and energizing both pro-European voters and the anti-establishment right in equal measure.
Streeting frames his argument less in nostalgia than in hard consequence: trade has grown harder, growth weaker, Russia more threatening, and America less reliable. Europe, in his telling, is not a memory but a shelter. Yet he carries his own contradictions into this moment — a former health secretary who presided over a bruising doctors' strike and a government he himself accuses of lacking vision. He wants to be the politician who returns ideas to Labour and Europe to Britain. Whether his boldness reads as courage or impatience may depend on whether the country is ready to hear the question he is finally willing to ask.
Wes Streeting has not yet announced he is running to be Britain's next prime minister. But he has done what candidates do before they can be one. He has drawn a line, chosen an opponent, and said aloud something the Labour Party has avoided saying for years: Brexit was a mistake, and the United Kingdom should look toward the European Union not as a neighbor but as a destination.
Streeting, the former health secretary, confirmed on Saturday at a Progress conference—a gathering of the Labour Party's modernizing wing—that he will enter a leadership race if one opens. No race exists yet. Keir Starmer remains at Downing Street. But pressure is building inside the party, and Streeting wanted to stake his ground before the starting line was even drawn. According to reporting, his proposal centers on a "new special relationship" with Europe and, eventually, the possibility of Britain rejoining the bloc. He made no promise of immediate membership—he could not have—but he called Brexit a "catastrophic error" and moved the conversation to the most sensitive point in British politics since 2016: whether the exit that promised control, sovereignty, and prosperity actually delivered any of those things.
Streeting did not stop at Europe. He attacked Starmer's leadership directly, accusing him of creating a heavy, risk-averse culture closed to new ideas. He said Labour arrived in power unprepared in too many areas and lacking vision. He called the cut to winter heating support a "catastrophe." He called for a "battle of ideas" rather than a succession managed by party discipline. The remarks had a specific target: Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester and a former Labour minister, is trying to return to Parliament through a special election in Makerfield, a constituency in northwest England near Wigan. If Burnham wins, he could run for leader. Streeting said a race without him would lack legitimacy—a statement that sounded generous but was also a warning. He wants a fight with the major names in the field.
Europe is the riskiest part of this platform. Starmer opposed Brexit, but as prime minister he has avoided defending a return to the European Union, the single market, or the customs union. He prefers a slow approach through agreements: trade with fewer barriers, cooperation on defense, security, energy, food, perhaps mobility for young people. It is a politics of repair. Streeting is pointing elsewhere. Not just patching the divorce, but admitting it may have been the wrong path entirely.
Rejoining would not be a simple matter of pressing a button. Britain could apply under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, as any European state respecting democratic and institutional standards could. But it would need to convince all 27 member states, win approval from the European Parliament, and accept a new accession treaty. A single member state could block the entire process. And Brussels would almost certainly not offer London the special conditions it had before leaving. Returning would mean accepting common rules, contributing to the European budget, negotiating freedom of movement, moving closer to the single market again, and discussing the pound's place in a club where new members are supposed to commit, at least in theory, to eventually adopting the euro. Britain would lose the budget rebate it once negotiated and the political exceptions that made its membership always somewhat separate, always somewhat apart.
This is the point Streeting leaves in fog. The real question is not whether return is possible—it is. The question is what it would cost in sovereignty, money, and domestic politics. A new referendum would be almost inevitable, even if not legally required, because no British government could undo Brexit without asking voters again. And such a campaign would reopen the wound of 2016. For young people, urban voters, and pro-Europeans, Streeting might seem like the first Labour leader willing to say what they believe is obvious. But for Nigel Farage and Reform UK, he would be a gift: proof that Labour wants to overturn the people's will.
Streeting tries to escape that trap by talking less about European nostalgia and more about economics, defense, and international weight. The argument is not that London regrets leaving but that trade has become harder, growth weaker, Russia more aggressive, and America less predictable. Europe appears in his framing not as memory but as shelter and platform. Yet he carries another burden into this conversation. He was health secretary and left one of government's most difficult posts. His tenure was marked by a bitter standoff with resident doctors—the junior doctors of an earlier era—in a strike that paralyzed hospitals between April 7 and 13. These doctors are in specialist training but are essential to the daily functioning of the NHS, Britain's National Health Service.
Here lies the contradiction Streeting must resolve. He wants to present himself as the politician who returns ideas to Labour and Europe to Britain, but he brings with him the wear of health, strikes, waiting lists, and a government he himself accuses of arriving in power without sufficient preparation. He wants to break with Starmer's caution, but he still needs to prove that his boldness is more than impatience. For now, there is no formal candidacy, no open succession, and no British application to rejoin the European Union. There is only a new phrase at the center of British politics. A possible successor to Starmer has decided to say that Britain may have left through the wrong door. And that, "one day," it might have to discover on what terms it will be allowed back in.
Citas Notables
Called Brexit a 'catastrophic error' and proposed a 'new special relationship' with the European Union— Wes Streeting
Accused Starmer of creating a heavy, risk-averse culture closed to new ideas and lacking vision— Wes Streeting
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does Streeting say this now, when Starmer is still in office?
Because the pressure inside Labour is building. People sense the government is struggling. If you want to lead, you have to show you have a different vision before the race officially starts. He's claiming the ground.
Is he actually proposing Britain rejoin the EU immediately?
No. He's saying it's possible and should be considered. He calls it a "catastrophic error" but doesn't promise to reverse it on day one. It's a signal about direction, not a policy.
What would actually have to happen for Britain to rejoin?
Twenty-seven countries would have to agree. Britain would lose the special deals it had before—the budget rebate, the opt-outs. It would probably have to commit to the euro eventually. And there would almost certainly be another referendum, which would reopen all the wounds from 2016.
So it's politically explosive.
Extremely. For pro-Europeans, he's finally saying what they believe. For Farage and the right, he's the proof that the left wants to overturn democracy. Either way, it dominates the conversation.
But Streeting was health secretary. Doesn't that hurt him?
Yes. He left that job marked by strikes, by conflict with doctors, by a health service in crisis. He's trying to position himself as a visionary, but he carries the weight of a difficult record. He has to prove his boldness isn't just frustration.
What does he gain by attacking Starmer so directly?
He's trying to own the space of change and ideas. Starmer is cautious, careful, risk-averse. Streeting is saying: I'm the one who will actually fight for something. It's a leadership play dressed as principle.