Reeves urges UK to rejoin EU as polls show rising support for returning to bloc

Reeves makes the case for rejoining

Rachel Reeves, the former chancellor, has argued that Britain's future lies inside the European Union. Writing in the Sunday Times, she said Brexit has left the country poorer, weaker and less secure, and she welcomed the debate opened by Prime Minister Andy Burnham about the UK's relationship with Europe. Reeves said she had never hidden her instincts while she was in the Treasury. She said supporters of re-entry must make the argument, show tangible benefits and get the next steps right. Her article also defended her record, calling for governments to be bolder in building large infrastructure and more clear-eyed about the risks and gains that artificial intelligence could bring to advanced economies.

In one of the sharpest lines of the piece, she put her view in plain terms.

“Brexit has made us poorer, weaker and less secure.”

Government position and the next steps

Burnham has said the country needs an honest discussion about what its future relationship with the EU should look like. He has said he will set out any proposals for closer ties around the time of the EU-UK summit on 20 November, the date on which a youth free-movement deal is expected to be struck. Reeves hopes that summit will confirm the youth mobility scheme she has pushed for, and show progress toward UK entry into the SAFE defence scheme, the Security Action for Europe programme. SAFE was announced in March 2026 as an EU-wide effort to rearm after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and a defence pact agreed with the EU in May 2026 opened a route for UK-based defence firms to join SAFE-funded projects. Labour's 2024 manifesto ruled out a return to free movement, single market membership or a customs union, and any such change would need a mandate at a general election, which is due by 2029. The Conservatives say they have no appetite to rerun the Brexit debate, while Reform UK's Nigel Farage says there is no mandate for closer EU ties.

Ipsos poll shows support for rejoining grows

An Ipsos survey shared exclusively with The Independent found that 56% of respondents would vote to rejoin the EU, up four points on a similar poll in May, while the share backing staying out fell three points to 30%. Among respondents likely to vote in a future referendum, the split was 63% to 34%, with 3% saying they did not know. Support for rejoining reached 73% among people under 35, 77% among those who voted Labour at the last general election, 31% among Conservative voters and 16% among Reform UK voters. The poll of 1,109 adults was conducted between 15 and 22 October 2026. Most respondents expected EU membership to help the economy (54%) and national security (53%), while 39% thought it would limit Britain's ability to act in its own interests.

Rejoin the EU56%

Stay out30%

Rejoin the EU

56 %

Stay out

30 %

Data from the article text

BMG tracking and reaction from campaigners

A separate BMG poll for The i Paper put support for rejoining at 48%, up three points, while support for staying out dropped three points to 35% and 17% answered don't know. That gives rejoin a 13-point lead. BMG has tracked the question since May 2023, and six of its 10 polls this year have shown rejoin ahead by 12 points or more, a pattern seen only once before, in May 2023. Throughout 2024 and 2025 the gap was usually between roughly five and nine points. BMG's Robert Struthers said the trend suggested support for rejoining was strengthening. On which party is most trusted to handle the EU and Brexit, Labour led with 23%, ahead of Reform UK on 18%, the Conservatives on 13% and the Liberal Democrats on 7%.

Rejoin48%

Stay out35%

Don't know17%

Rejoin

48 %

Stay out

35 %

Don't know

17 %

Data from the article text

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, who has predicted Burnham will lead the UK back into the EU, said the under-35 findings pointed to growing support within a part of the population that will become larger in the coming decades. He argued that British influence depends on being inside the bloc, and put it this way.

“When we are not at the table, we are on the menu.”