Press

Sir Keir Starmer to outline Labour's plan to 'make Brexit work'

04 July 2022
Sky News
Speaking at the the Centre for European Reform on Monday evening, Sir Keir will say: "There are some who say, 'we don't need to make Brexit work, we need to reverse it', [but] I couldn't disagree more. "Because you cannot move forward or grow the country or deliver change or win back the trust of those who have lost faith in politics if you're constantly focused on the arguments of the past. "We cannot afford to look back over our shoulder. Because all the time we are doing that we are missing what is ahead of us."

Speech by Sir Keir Starmer at the CER's 24th birthday reception

Keir Starmer
04 July 2022
Keir Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, Labour’s 5-point plan to Make Brexit Work 
Thank you.
It’s a real privilege to be here tonight.
I want to start by thanking everyone here at the Embassy.
Especially Adrian, for the immense contribution he has made as Ambassador to Britain.
Adrian has always been honest and constructive...

Keir Starmer promises to make Brexit better, not rejoin the EU

04 July 2022
The Times
In a speech to the Centre for European Reform, Starmer will set out what he describes as a five point plan to “make Brexit work”. As well as plans to align with EU agriculture rules he will also pledge to follow EU regulations in other areas such as chemicals and product safety standards saying Labour has “no intention from diverging standards below current levels”.In addition he will promise to agree a deal over the Northern Ireland protocol and push for British UK scientific institutions to be allowed back in the EU Horizon funding scheme.

Keir Starmer says Brexit debate is over and vows Labour won’t rejoin the EU

04 July 2022
Metro
In a speech to the Centre for European Reform at an event at the Irish Embassy in London, he said: ‘There are some who say, “We don’t need to make Brexit work – we need to reverse it”. I couldn’t disagree more.
  ‘Because you cannot move forward or grow the country or deliver change or win back the trust of those who have lost faith in politics if you’re constantly focused on the arguments of the past.
‘We cannot afford to look back over our shoulder because all the time we are doing that we are missing what is ahead of us.’

Keir Starmer launches Labour's Brexit policy and rules out rejoining the European Union

04 July 2022
The Mirror
Mr Starmer will set out his five point plan to 'Make Brexit Work' at the Centre for European Reform. He believes it will "remove some of the [trade] barriers" that are currently holding Britain back.

UK Labour rules out EU single market membership as ‘recipe for division’

04 July 2022
EurActiv
In a speech at the Centre for European Reform thinktank, Starmer will say that joining the single market “would distract us from taking on the challenges facing people, and it would ensure Britain remained stuck for another decade.” 
“So let me be very clear: with Labour, Britain will not go back into the EU. We will not be joining the single market. We will not be joining a customs union,” he will add. 

Starmer’s cautious five-point plan to ‘make Brexit work’

04 July 2022
The Spectator
In a speech to the Centre for European Reform this evening, the Labour leader is complaining that the government 'have missed Brexit opportunities time and time again'. He will also set out his party's 'five point plan to make Brexit work'.

Brexit: No case for UK returning to EU, Labour leader Starmer says

04 July 2022
BBC News
In a speech at pro-EU think tank the Centre for European Reform, Sir Keir rejected that approach, arguing it would be a "recipe for more division".
He added: "There are some who say, 'We don't need to make Brexit work. We need to reverse it'.

Labour insiders deny rift over Brexit strategy, as Sir Keir Starmer tells concerned MPs to look to the future

04 July 2022
iNews
The Labour leader used a speech at the Centre of Economic Reform to set out his five-step plan to “make Brexit work” – attacking Boris Johnson’s deal and attempting to set out his vision for what a UK out of the EU, and under a Labour government, would look like. ...In the speech, Sir Keir set out plans to “eliminate most border checks” through a new veterinary agreement for agri-products as well as introducing mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

Germany and Ireland accuse UK of not acting in ‘good faith’ over Northern Ireland

03 July 2022
Financial Times
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said the ministers’ statement “shows a hardening of the EU line on the protocol”. “The new German government is a few notches tougher on the British than its predecessor,” he said. “In recent years it has often been the French who have taken the hardest line among the 27 — but the joint statement shows they are not alone. EU governments now say that the arguments over the protocol are not just about Northern Ireland, they are about the UK’s international reputation as a country that respects the rule of law.”
CER podcast: What next on the path for Ukraine's EU membership?

CER podcast: What next on the path for Ukraine's EU membership?

Ian Bond, Natalie Forsyuk, Ivanna Klympush-Tsinsadze, Katarína Mathernová
01 July 2022
Ian Bond spoke to three senior figures involved in Ukraine's application for EU membership, who discussed what's next on the path for Ukraine becoming an EU member-state.

Global Corporate Tax: France says EU can bypass Hungarian veto

30 June 2022
Euronews
According to Zach Meyers, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER), "if the French presidency gives up on an EU-wide directive to implement the minimum global corporate tax because of Hungary’s veto, then any alternative will be far less legally robust.""The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has already ruled that EU member states cannot stop corporates from taking advantage of lower tax rates available in other member states: when the UK was a member of the EU, it proposed to do this, and the regime was struck down."

Brexit: UK should rejoin single market as quitting EU ‘biggest piece of self-inflicted harm,’ says Sadiq Khan

29 June 2022
Evening Standard
Another analysis, by the Centre for European Reform, estimated that the UK was being hit with a £31 billion blow to GDP from Brexit in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Counting the cost of the Brexit vote six years on

27 June 2022
The Sunday Times
The doppelgänger approach has been used extensively by John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform. His latest update, covering the period to the end of last year, was published earlier this month, and the results are striking.

‘What have we done?’: six years on, UK counts the cost of Brexit

25 June 2022
The Guardian
Figures from the Centre for European Reform show that the Brexit vote has already depressed economic growth. The independent think-tank said that by the end of last year the economy was 5% – or £31bn – smaller than if the UK had stayed in the EU. 

France 24: Bilan de la présidence française de l'UE : une période marquée par la guerre en Ukraine

Camino Mortera-Martinez
24 June 2022
Le 30 juin, la France quittera la présidence du Conseil de l’Union européenne, au terme de six mois de travail. Une période marquée par la guerre en Ukraine, ce qui a permis à Emmanuel Macron de prendre le leadership de la réponse européenne mais aussi de faire avancer des dossiers...
¿Por qué va a utilizar nadie la moneda digital de un banco central?

¿Por qué va a utilizar nadie la moneda digital de un banco central?

24 June 2022
ESglobal
Los bancos centrales tienen prisa por empezar las pruebas de una moneda digital propia. Quizá parece una cosa emocionante. Pero seguramente no ofrecen a los usuarios casi ninguna ventaja de la que no disfruten ya.

Brexit : six ans d’effritement de l’économie britannique

23 June 2022
Le Monde
John Springford, du groupe de réflexion Centre for European Reform, a comparé les statistiques britanniques à celles d’un groupe de vingt-deux pays développés. Il en conclut que depuis le troisième trimestre 2016 (juste après le référendum), la croissance britannique a été inférieure de 5,2 % à celle du groupe témoin, les investissements inférieurs de 13,7 %, le commerce de marchandises de 13,6 % et celui des services de 7,9 %. Cela ne signifie pas que l’économie britannique a stagné depuis 2016, mais simplement qu’elle a moins prospéré que celle des pays témoins.

NDR: Brexit and the UK economy

22 June 2022
John Springford discusses how Brexit is affecting the British economy with German public radio (from 00:58).

Five Star party splits as Ukraine war shakes Italian politics

22 June 2022
Financial Times
Luigi Scazzieri, a senior fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the war looked set to emerge as the prism through which other domestic political disputes will be viewed as next year’s general elections draw closer. “The war becomes this all-encompassing phenomenon that has all these hot button consequences in terms of energy, food security, migration and economic recession,” he said. “It’s becoming a very big issue that has divisions within parties as well as between them.”