Brexit was ‘declaration of political impotence’ says David Miliband in plea to PM
David Miliband has said Brexit was a ‘unilateral declaration of political impotence’ and called on Andy Burnham to seek a new formal relationship with the bloc
David Miliband has called on Andy Burnham to seek a formal relationship with Europe again
David Miliband has said Brexit was a “unilateral declaration of political impotence” as he called on Andy Burnham to reverse the decision to leave the EU.
In a major intervention the former Foreign Secretary – whose brother Ed currently has the job – said Brexit reduced the UK to “a bobbing cork in the sea”.
He accused Keir Starmer of lacking a vision for resetting relations with Europe – but said he backs Andy Burnham to do so. Earlier this week the Prime Minister refused to rule out reversing Brexit in Labour’s next manifesto.
Mr Miliband said the UK must seek a “structured, organised, institutionalised relationship with the EU”, telling The Independent: “We have got to join together in a new project for European security and prosperity.”
The former Labour leadership contender, who was Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010, said Brexit had caused “exactly the daily anguish” he and fellow Remainers predicted. He added: “Britain is weaker because we’ve cut ourselves off economically and issued this unilateral declaration of political impotence.”
Mr Miliband added: “We have made ourselves weaker economically and politically because we’re not influential. Britain is weaker, Europe is weaker and the West is weaker. The EU is less well balanced and we have left Europe without an absolutely critical anchor and contributor.”
Although rejoining the bloc would be tricky, he said, Europe is becoming more flexible. He said although the full membership Britain had before Brexit is gone, Mr Burnham should seek to fashion a new deal.
Mr Miliband said a “new shared model” would have to be drawn up to undo the damage caused by leaving the EU Customs Union and Single Market.
“It is the cheapest way to boost the economy, the fastest way to unite Europe in the face of security threats and the best way to get leverage on a global system that no longer has an American anchor. All politics is local, but local today is not confined to your locality or postcode. We cannot afford to be provincial about it. We have got to be be engaged.”
Asked if he thought Mr Burnham would do this more effectively than Mr Starmer, Mr Miliband said: “I do – because he has said he will. When Andy says we have got to be bold and ambitious, he doesn’t say things by accident. We should take him at his word.”
Earlier this week Mr Burnham told reporters that discussions about rejoining the EU are “for another day”. He said: “Our focus at the moment is on a UK/EU summit which we hope will take place later this year.
“My immediate priority is to build on the good work that Keir did in rebuilding bridges. Because those bridges were broken in the early part of this decade. And Keir did a good job in re-establishing that relationship.
“What we have got to do now is go to the next level in terms of reaching practical agreement that will further boost the British economy. And those issues are the substance of the summit alongside EU requests around youth mobility.”
One thing at the top of the agenda, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs last week, will be data sharing. The UK lost access to the Eurodac migration database and the Schengen Information System (SIS) criminal database when it left the EU.
Ms Mahmood told the Home Affairs Committee: “We definitely talk to European colleagues about data sharing, for law enforcement and immigration purposes. Again, it would be wrong for me to try to get ahead of discussions that may or may not be happening at the UK-EU summit, but, from a Home Office perspective, rest assured that data sharing is the first item on the agenda whenever I discuss these things with the European Commission and others.”
