Originally published in The Lead UK - 16 May 2025.
Well, the big day is almost here. After many warm words and months of speculation, on Monday Keir Starmer will welcome EU leaders to agree the terms of his much anticipated relationship reset with the EU.
After Boris Johnson’s dud deal which made us all poorer, things became pretty clear for organisations like ours that were determined to repair some of the damage.
Step one - map the myriad ways he’d shafted the UK and develop ways a new government could begin to fix it. Step two - By facilitating one of the most concerted data led tactical voting campaigns the UK has ever seen, help get rid of the Conservative government which was taking almost every opportunity to compound the damage. Step 3 - Get the new government to support the fixes to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal before it was due to be reviewed in 2026.
In summary, Monday’s summit is the culmination of years of work at Best for Britain, and the best advice we can give you is to adjust your expectations now.
The front pages on Tuesday are shaping up to be the one thing that is nailed on to be agreed - a new UK-EU defence pact which, in the face of Russian aggression and American antipathy, has rightly been prioritised.
Conversely, it seems increasingly unlikely that the things which will deliver real change for the standard punter will be finalised next week. A Youth Mobility Scheme so young Brits can live, work and travel across Europe, an SPS agreement that can reduce supermarket prices and protect food standards, and enhanced energy cooperation that could save you money on your lecky bill, these will remain TBC.
But don’t abandon hope. It’s important to remember that this is actually just the beginning. The other key output from Monday’s summit will almost certainly be a framework to take all these lovely things forward. Potentially, we could even see movement on much more, including help for touring musicians, enhanced data sharing to tackle crime or the possibility of the UK rejoining Erasmus +. By close of play we should be much clearer on where, and potentially when, agreement will eventually be reached between the UK and EU on all the things that will really move the dial for businesses and consumers, even if the details are yet to be ironed out.
After 14 years of Conservative government, eight of which they spent dancing to the tune of fact-free Farage fantasies no matter the cost, expectations are high and people are understandably impatient for change. Our polling shows majority support for almost every area of closer UK-EU cooperation with two thirds and every single constituency (even Nigel Farage’s seat of Clacton) backing a youth mobility scheme. Only 4% of people who voted for Starmer think his current approach with Europe ‘goes too far’.
And it’s not just people here. Moving 27 member nations on any one policy let alone several is like steering an oil tanker and Starmer needed to show a lot more ankle in 2024 on the things the EU wanted if there was any chance of these things being agreed by now.
They say if your expectations are low, you’ll never be disappointed. So next week remember that progress towards a common sense deal with our closest allies, however slow, still represents a win. Together we are moving closer to restoring some of the opportunities and freedoms that were taken away from all of us. By Tuesday we should have a framework to reduce costs for millions of people across the UK. The danger for Starmer will be if he’s now left it too late for people to have felt the benefits when they next cast their vote for who should have his job.