Rachel Reeves is set to bring Britain closer to the EU through an “economic reset” in a landmark speech to the bloc’s finance ministers today.
In her address to Eurozone counterparts, the Chancellor is expected to lay into the UK’s “fractious” post-Brexit relations with the continent – which she will claim has been defined by “division and chaos” under the Conservatives.
Reeves will tell the bloc: “This is the first time a British chancellor has addressed the Eurogroup [of finance ministers] since Brexit.
“It is a signal of the new UK government’s commitment to resetting our country’s relationship with the European Union, and the importance I place in realising the economic potential of our shared future.
“I know that the last few years have been fractious. Division and chaos defined the last Government’s approach to Europe. It will not define ours.”
It follows months of calls for “relations resets” with allies and adversaries around the world by Labour’s top brass – with both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary pledging to bring Britain back to the table with the EU, China and more.
But the Chancellor’s calls for closeness come in the face of dire warnings over fishing and farming. Just days ago, the EU signed a landmark trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur – while Europe has been pushing for greater access to British fishing waters for months.
And her impending speech has seen Tory eyes rolling, too – Shadow Business Secretary has urged Reeves to ignore the slow-growing bloc in favour of “jumping on a plane to the US and talking to Trump about getting a US-UK trade deal done”.
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