London seeking to reset post-Brexit relationship but Brussels sceptical
PUBLISHED : 23 May 2026 at 15:10
LONDON – The British government has proposed the creation of a single market for goods with the European Union in what would be an ambitious reset of its post-Brexit ties with the bloc, but Brussels has rejected the idea, British media have reported.
The Guardian said the EU instead suggested Britain should join a customs union or agree to deeper economic alignment via the European Economic Area, both of which would require Prime Minister Keir Starmer to reverse his refusal to allow free movement of workers.
UK officials told The Guardian that the EU has not definitively rejected a single market for goods and the idea was among options for discussion at a planned EU-UK summit expected in July.
A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office in London said the government was negotiating “an ambitious package of measures” ahead of the summit, including a sanitary and phytosanitary deal for trade in food and drink and another on emissions trading.
The spokesperson declined to comment on the report in The Guardian which appeared late on Friday and a similar story published by the BBC on Saturday.
Starmer’s Labour government has talked increasingly about the economic costs of Brexit, and his finance minister Rachel Reeves said in March that London was ready to align with many EU business rules to lower the barriers to trade.
British voters decided to leave the EU in a referendum in June 2016.
Wes Streeting, who recently stepped down as UK health minister and is seen as a potential challenger to Starmer, has said that Britain should one day return to the bloc.
Another possible challenger, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, said on Monday he was not proposing that Britain consider rejoining the EU.
Starmer’s grip on Downing Street is in doubt after poor local and regional election results.