On 19 November 2024, the UK Labour Government through the Cabinet Office confirmed that ‘there will be no return to EU membership’, in what will surely be seen by many as a setback for the fifty-nine-percent of the population who want the United Kingdom to rejoin the European Union. The UK Government was very clear that it was not going to ‘return to arguments of the past’. The statement said the ‘United Kingdom would not be returning to freedom of movement’, ‘rejoining the Customs Union, or single market’.
However, the re-join campaign is not giving up, because the Government may well be forced to debate the call to re-join in the Commons, as forty-five thousand people have already thrown their weight behind the petition in just three weeks (the UK government is compelled to respond after a petition reaches ten thousand signatures, and has to debate any petition that gets more than 100,000 signatures).
Why did the Labour Government issue a statement?
The UK Government was responding to the petition submitted by Robert McMaster which set out the benefits, as he sees it, for the United Kingdom of rejoining the European Union. McMaster thinks that it would:
- ‘provide stability and freedom’
- ‘improve collaboration’ between our European allies
- ‘increase the global influence’ of the United Kingdom; and
- ‘boost the economy’ of the United Kingdom.
In its response, the United Kingdom Government stated that as it had been elected on 5 July 2024 in the General Election on a Manifesto commitment for the United Kingdom to remain outside the European Union, the country will not be re-entering the body, although the Labour Party did not rule out resetting the EU-UK relationship.
Why was the petition started?
Nobody takes the step to launch a petition lightly and when reading this petition you get a sense of the frustration of the petitioner at his opinion not being listened to. The petitioner is of the view that the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union ‘has not brought any tangible benefit’, making a controversial statement that the United Kingdom has changed its mind, and then appears to suggest that this point of view should be recognised by the Government.
What are the benefits of the UK rejoining the European Union?
In his petition, McMaster states that if the United Kingdom were to re-join the European Union there would be a range of advantages, including:
- economic growth potentially benefiting ‘consumers and businesses
- inward investment
- frictionless trade
He believes that the decision to rejoin the European Union as a fully paid-up member has the potential to ‘amplify the voice of the United Kingdom on the global stage’. He further states that being inside the Union would give the United Kingdom greater ‘influence on the policy and regulations of the European Union’. Specific areas the petitioner highlighted included:
- the environment
- security
- trade
These are not the only areas where the petitioner sees advantages for the United Kingdom in re-joining the European Union. He states that signing up to full membership has the potential to provide opportunities for ‘UK citizens to live, study, and work across the Member States of the European Union’. Such opportunities would allow British people to ‘enhance the exchange of cultures and personal opportunities’. Mr McMaster is also of the opinion that rejoining would ‘provide access to projects involving ‘research and science’, which would only be open if the United Kingdom made such a decision (such as the Erasmus Scheme).
What are the chances of success?
Despite the petitioner’s positive talk about the potential for the United Kingdom to rejoin the European Union and its place in the world, the Government’s response shows that rejoining may be a long way off. However, there may be a glimmer of hope for those who feel the UK should not have left the EU. The Government said in their response to the petition ‘..we are determined to reset the UK-EU relationship’, putting it on what it called, ‘a solid footing’.
The UK Government statement confirmed this approach by saying that since winning the General Election in July 2024 it has been ‘working to reset the relationship with our European friends’. As part of this, the Government aims to strengthen ties, secure a broad-based security pact and tackle barriers to trade with the EU. The UK Government said it is ‘committed to working constructively with the European Union Member States to deliver for the British people’.
Did North West England support the petition?
The UK Labour Government response is not surprising from a North West England perspective, where the Leave vote was between 50-60% in 2016, and the low numbers who signed the petition so far may indicate a lack of appetite in the North West for the UK to rejoin the European Union.
When we look in more detail at the numbers of people from North West constituencies who signed the petition, Wirral West came out on top with 101 signatories supporting the petition, the highest number of signatories in the North West. Oldham and Saddleworth received just 29 signatures bringing up the rear in last place. The remaining respective North West based constituencies struggled to get 100 constituents to sign the petition.
These numbers are comparable to other areas, where the highest number of signatures from one constituency was 183, and the lowest 6.
How can remainers support the campaign to re-join?
If anyone in the North West wants to improve these dismal numbers of signatories, the best course of action would be to sign Mr McMaster’s petition. This might at least push the Members of Parliament to listen to their constituencies and push the Government to debate the matter in the Commons. However, the statement released by the Labour government on 19 November 2024 in response to Mr McMaster’s petition shows that the United Kingdom administration is not keen for the United Kingdom to re-join the European Union.
