The Mayor of London has said the UK's return to the EU is "inevitable"
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that Labour should campaign to take the UK back into the EU at the next general election.
Khan told Italian newspaper La Repubblica last night that the UK’s return to the EU is “inevitable” and questioned “why delay the inevitable?”.
Khan said that Labour should “go into the next elections with a promise to rejoin the EU”, without going through a second referendum.
The London Mayor’s stance goes much further than the Labour government’s current position, which is currently to keep to Brexit’s “red lines” while seeking closer ties with the bloc.
Khan said that the UK should rejoin the customs union and single market by the end of this Parliament. He said that any trade deal with the EU is “less good” than being in the customs union.
He argued his position, saying: “I see on a daily basis the damage Brexit has done — not just to London, but to Londoners”.
He said that the damage is “humongous” economically, socially and culturally, and that incremental steps to strengthen ties with the EU are not enough.
The Mayor of London cited new research by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, and Goldman Sachs, which found that the UK economy would have grown by an additional 10% if it weren’t for Brexit.
He added that in an “incredibly unstable world” and with Donald Trump in power, “Europe is our only security”.
Khan said: “I think it’s inevitable, the direction of travel, at some stage we’re going to rejoin the European Union. Why have additional pain in the meantime? Why delay the inevitable?”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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