EU ambassador Pedro Serrano appears more open than Brussels colleagues to “concrete” steps towards a closer relationship under Sir Keir Starmer.will not spend two years “convulsing” British politics with another EU referendum and will therefore not pursue single market membership, a shadow Cabinet minister has said.
Appearing alongside Mr Benn at the Labour Party conference, the EU’s ambassador Pedro Serrano meanwhile appeared to be more open than Brussels colleagues to the idea of deepening economic ties in a “concrete” way in a scheduled review of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement in 2026. The Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary replied: “I’ve argued with people who’ve said we should just rejoin, that would require another referendum, it would.“And I have no intention of Labour if we are elected then spending two years convulsing the nation once again in an argument about Europe.”
Mr Benn added: “But it is perfectly possible to build a new but a different relationship that I was talking about.