Labour’s ‘crabwise’ approach to closer EU ties must address damage of Brexit | Heather Stewart

The damage to the economy dwarfs the upsides from the various non-EU trade deals the UK has struck since 2016

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achel Reeves joined EU finance ministers for dinner in Washington last week, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund spring meetings – the first time a chancellor had done so since Brexit.

It was the latest symbolic step in Labour’s marked shift towards prioritising closer EU relations.

That makes perfect sense against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s reckless Middle East conflict. But domestic politics and economics have increasingly aligned in favour of a lean towards the EU, too – or, rather, Labour has increasingly opened its eyes to them.