The EU on Friday congratulated Keir Starmer on Labour’s election win in Britain, with European Council President Charles Michel calling it “historic’. But Labour’s landslide victory doesn’t mean that London will turn back the clock on Brexit.
Keir Starmer has pledged to “make Brexit work” and seek “an ambitious” security pact with the the European Union.
But contrary to the hopes of many in the UK who may have hoped that London would return to the EU mainland fold, Labour is careful not to offend its pro-Brexit constituencies.
Over the years, especially in the north of England, many voters shifted to the pro-Brexit ideas of the Conservative party, afraid that EU immigrants would take away their jobs.
RFI talks to political scientist John Barry, of Queens University in Belfast, about how he thinks Brexit affected the UK economy, and if London will ever rejoin the common market. (The interview was carried out online)
Brexit has framed UK politics since 2016.
INTERVIEW: John Barry, political scientist with Queens University in Belfast