Culture secretary says Streeting’s call for UK to rejoin EU is ‘odd’ | Labour
Britain’s culture minister has dismissed calls for Britain to re-enter the European Union as “bizarre”, a day after his former cabinet colleague Wes Streeting says country’s future depends on bloc.
Lisa Nandy criticized the former health secretary on Sunday, saying his comments over the weekend risked reigniting a debate resolved by the Brexit referendum 10 years ago.
With the issue now likely to feature prominently in the Makerfield by-election and the Labor Party leadership contest expected to follow, Nandy insisted prime minister Keir Starmer was right to refuse to rejoin the EU.
He told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I actually think it’s a bit odd. I listened very carefully to what Wes said yesterday and I know he has a strong view on this and has always been of the view that we shouldn’t leave the European Union.”
“Obviously that’s something I share. I campaigned to remain, so I think so [Brexit] That was a mistake and I think the Brexit deal has been a real problem for us. “But I don’t really understand why there’s a sudden focus on Europe.”
He added: “As a government, we are trying to pragmatically repair the unnecessary damage that the bad Brexit deal has done to people’s living standards in towns like mine, without reopening the cyclical debates we are in as a country.”
Streeting’s comments, made in a speech in London, have put the issue of Britain’s relations with the EU high on the agenda in the Makerfield by-election, in which Andy Burnham, the Labor mayor of Greater Manchester, intends to fulfill his promise to challenge Starmer for the party leadership.
Streeting, who resigned from cabinet this week in protest at Starmer’s leadership, said on Saturday: “In 2026, British people increasingly see that we must act together in a dangerous world, both to rebuild our economy and trade and to improve our defenses against the shared threats of Russian aggression and America First.
“The greatest economic opportunity we have ever had is on our doorstep. We need a new and special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future is in Europe and, one day, in the European Union again.”
He said he plans to run if the leadership race is launched, but it is not yet clear whether he has enough parliamentary support to do so.
A by-election has not yet been officially called and Burnham has not been chosen as Labour’s candidate, but her policy positions are already being carefully chosen as signs of what she could do if she becomes prime minister.
Burnham told ITV News on Saturday that rejoining the EU would not be the focus of her campaign. “There’s a case for it in the long term, but I’m not advocating it in this by-election,” he said. “What I’m really saying right now is to focus on the domestic market. Britain needs to focus very much on the here and now and the issues that affect people.”
But Labor MP Josh Simons, who left his seat of Makerfield to make way for ally Burnham, suggested nationalizing public services could be a key part of his pitch to voters.
“Energy, water, social housing – things that are the basics of our lives on which we all depend – have become very expensive,” he told the BBC on Sunday.
“And one of the reasons they’re so expensive – not the only one, but one of the reasons they’re so expensive – is that we privatize a lot of them, and the bills we pay often go to shareholders.”
Starmer’s allies, meanwhile, say the prime minister has not given up hope of staying in office and insists he will enter the race if a leadership election is held.
Asked on Sunday whether he thought Starmer would be involved in a leadership contest, Nandy said: “He said he would… I haven’t spoken to him this weekend but I’ve spoken to him a few times in the last week and obviously he’s shown before that he’s up for a fight.”
