Brexit's undoing? Pro-EU coalition needs to recognise its very real strength
Andy Burnham must press ahead on his current course towards stronger relations with the European Union
Politicians quite often like to try to steal their rivals’ thunder as they prepare for the spotlight provided by a party conference. So the SNP’s offer to “work together” with the Liberal Democrats on closer ties to the European Union should be seen more as a political stunt than anything else.
Indeed, even while extending a “European hand of friendship” to Ed Davey and co as they travelled to Brighton, SNP MSP Alex Kerr couldn’t help but deliver a metaphorical punch to the kidneys. “We know the Liberal Democrats are fiercely European and while many of their members and voters are frustrated by their weakened position on rejoining the EU, there is no reason that has to remain,” he said. Currently the Lib Dem policy is for the UK to rejoin the single market, backing a return to the EU itself only in the long term.
Expressing scepticism about the SNP’s pro-European credentials, Scottish Lib Dem MSP David Green responded: "No one doubts that the Lib Dems are the UK's most pro-European party and we are doing all we can to get the whole UK back to the heart of Europe."
READ MORE: Andy Burnham must finally meet 64-year-old challenge about Britain’s lost place in the world
A national security imperative
As they bickered rather inconsequentially, Andy Burnham was meeting with his Irish counterpart Micheál Martin to push for deeper ties between the UK and the EU. “In Europe, we are looking forward to a UK-EU summit later this year and... wanting to take further steps to deepen the relationship with Europe,” the Prime Minister said.
There are also still some pro-European Conservatives. They may be keeping their heads down these days, but they do exist. All in all, that’s quite a powerful coalition in favour of undoing as much of the damage caused by Brexit as possible and polls show strong public support for doing so.
It should leave Burnham in no doubt that his current course is the correct one. The threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s evil regime means that building closer political and military ties with Brussels is a national security imperative. And in difficult economic times, removing barriers to trade with our closest neighbours is, quite simply, a no-brainer.
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