Labour splits as Red Wall MPs urge Keir Starmer to ignore lefties who want Britain back in the EU
Labour MPs in the Red Wall have called on Sir Keir Starmer to ignore calls to rejoin the European Union.
Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has suggested it was "inevitable" that Britain would end up heading back towards the EU, suggesting on a "daily basis " he had seen "the damage Brexit has done to not just London, but to Londoners, the damage economically, socially and culturally."
Trade minister Sir Chris Bryant yesterday refused to rule out campaigning to rejoin the bloc, telling Sky News: "I think we should be immensely ambitious about our relationship with the European Union.
“You know what we were promised in the Brexit referendum, which incidentally was a pack of lies, we were promised frictionless trade. Give me frictionless trade however you want it and do it fast."
Now, MP for Bassetlaw and head of the party's Red Wall group Jo White, said Labour should be focusing on more important priorities.
She told The Sun: "Now is not the time or the place to be talking about going back into the EU. What we need to focus on is good trade deals and what is best for our economy.
"I don’t want to spend the next three years looking at the past, we have to look forward."
Labour's MP for Bolsover Natalie Fleet added: “While London may want to rejoin, areas like mine that voted 70 per cent to leave definitely do not. In an increasingly divided world, the last thing we need is to divide the country all over again by restarting this debate."
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: "We will not be rejoining the customs union, the single market or returning to freedom of movement. Those are our red lines as per the Government’s manifesto.
"We do want a closer economic partnership with the EU, but rejoining the customs union would unpick important trade agreements we’ve reached, including our deals with the US and India."
FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…
Kemi Badenoch vows: 'This rubbish must STOP' as hospitals and universities shun King's portrait
The overwhelming majority of universities and hospitals in the country snubbed the Government's offer of a free portrait of the King shortly after his coronation in 2023, GB News can reveal.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, blamed the poor take-up of the £131 picture of the King on managers in the public sector who were unnecessarily worried that people would be offended.
"All of this rubbish needs to stop," she told GB News' Chopper's Political Podcast.
UK borrowing costs jump to 'second highest on record' as Rachel Reeves faces 'challenging environment'
Public sector borrowing came in at £14.3billion in February 2026, up £2.2billion from the same time the year before, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is also the second-highest February borrowing figure on record, just below the 2021 pandemic-era figure, in a blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves's plans for the economy.
Notably, central Government debt interest costs primarily fueled February 2026's figures, alongside the increased costs of providing public services and benefit spending.
Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
