Brexit, the British Minister for Europe speaks: “Here’s why we will move ever closer to the EU”

LONDON – Nick Thomas-Symonds, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, have you seen the Observer front page today saying that the UK should rejoin the EU? Do you agree with that?

“I don't think we should be looking backwards. I think we should be looking forward. This is the case I've been making before I got this job, when I was shadowing it in opposition and indeed in government. Now, it is absolutely true that the world has changed since Brexit, but I don't believe our post-Brexit structures are, in any sense, designed to deal with the problems of today. We have a security, political and economic context that has changed. We have a land war in Europe. We have war in the Middle East, and we have global overcapacity in strategic sectors, resulting from Chinese overproduction. Steel is an example of that, where we need to find a solution. I think working with Maros Sefcovic, with whom I have a really positive, constructive relationship. He and I have worked extremely well together over what is the best part of two years now, and I think we've done really important work. I think nobody can say the UK-EU relationship is in a much more positive place. Nobody can say that what we've already achieved isn't significant, from the security and defence partnership last year, which obviously complements our membership of NATO, to also the reaccession to Erasmus+, which I'm so proud of. Just before Christmas, over 100,000 mostly young Brits — I say young Brits, but it is open for adult learners as well, and indeed Europeans too — but also what Maros and I promised before Christmas we will achieve by this year's summit around the food and drink agreement, linkage around emissions trading systems, the youth experience. These are all really significant things that are going to make a contribution, a huge contribution, not just economically, but to the opportunities for people as well. But this is the point really to make that's so important. At the moment, there is a real window of opportunity that exists now to go further, to make this relationship a durable one for the future, to the UK-EU, the new strategic partnership, if you like, can deliver security, prosperity and resilience. And I've thought about this a great deal. I've spoken about it as well in speeches that I've made. I think it's based on fundamentally shared values. I think Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, put it best when she talks about, same, you know, different ships, yes, but in the same convoy. And we have the values of democracy, of open market rules-based approach to trade, but also that trade is based on, you know, a significant and really important set of labour rights, on social standards, environmental standards, climate standards. So fundamentally, our values are the same. I also think European security, of course, we share the same security interests and priorities. We also know that in defence terms there has been a shift in the burden, that Europe has to stand on its own two feet. Clearly an EU-UK partnership will drive that. But also, our industrial bases are highly integrated, with billions of pounds worth of trade between them. And I think we're at the point where those shared values, the shared challenges that exist, as I say, but now we've got to turn that into reality going forward. And that's exactly the work that I will be leading, and that's why I think this is the opportunity for that step up in ambition.”