Rejoin EU to boost UK economy, says Kinnock

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has told Sir Keir Starmer it is “time to look at rejoining” the European Union to ease the country’s economic woes and get a grip on the small boats crisis.

- BILL CURTIS

Lord Kinnock, who led the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992, said the UK could no longer afford the “huge self-inflicted losses” created by leaving the European Union - and that restoring membership would be a major boost for growth.

He said he understood the reluctance within government over the issue, but “sooner or later, we’re going to have to say if we really want sustained economic growth, we have to be part of a body of the single market with our nearest neighbours”.

The comments by Lord Kinnock, a former European Commissioner and vice-president of the European Commission, come at the same time as warnings that Rachel Reeves will have to raise taxes in the Budget in November to meet her self-imposed borrowing rules. On Friday, experts warned that unexpectedly high government borrowing figures in August meant tax rises were “inevitable”.

Lord Kinnock said: “If we rejoined, we'd be able to get rid of the economic growth deficit, which is costing us £100bn a year, which means the government is losing £40bn in tax revenue. We can’t afford to carry on losing revenues on that scale or the investment in jobs that would go with that amount. We need to resume normality and be part of our continent again.

“It would hugely help our economy out at a time of desperate need in a major way.