Reeves Says Britain’s Future Is in the EU. Reform Says Labour Has No Mandate

News | By Matt, Editor

Rachel Reeves, sacked as Chancellor by Andy Burnham, said on Sunday that “Britain’s future lies in the European Union”. She wrote that Brexit has made the country “poorer, weaker and less secure”. For Reform UK, it was the clearest proof yet of what it has warned about repeatedly this week: Labour wants back in, and it has no mandate to take Britain there.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Ms Reeves said: “No one in the Treasury ever doubted where my instincts were.” Nigel Farage has said there is no mandate to pursue closer ties with the EU. (BBC News; The Guardian)

Key facts

• Ms Reeves wrote in The Sunday Times on Sunday 1 November: “I do believe Britain’s future lies in the European Union.”
• She said supporters of re-entry must “make the argument, demonstrate tangible benefits and to get the next steps right”.
• She hopes the UK-EU summit on 20 November confirms a youth mobility scheme and “progress towards entry” into the EU’s Safe defence fund.
• Labour’s 2024 manifesto ruled out a return to the single market, the customs union and free movement.
• Mr Burnham says any “fundamental change” would be for the public to decide, in the next Parliament.

What Reeves wrote

Ms Reeves, the MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, said she was “proud of the progress we have already made” with the EU. “There is a debate to be had about our future relationship with Europe, and I welcome Andy Burnham’s leadership in facing up to this,” she wrote. (The Guardian)

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She did not say when Britain should rejoin, or whether there should be a referendum first. The BBC’s paper review noted that she gave no timeline. Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, went further in the Sunday Mirror. He said he wanted the question put to voters again, in a “very clear manifesto commitment” or a fresh vote. (BBC News)

She wrote the manifesto

Reform’s case against her is simple. Ms Reeves helped draft Labour’s 2024 manifesto, according to Ben Riley-Smith, political editor of The Sunday Times. That manifesto promised no return to the single market, the customs union or free movement. Now, out of office, she says Britain’s future is inside the EU.

The BBC noted on Sunday that Labour’s manifesto said a Labour government would stay outside the EU and make Brexit work. Reform has spent the week hammering that point. On Wednesday it posted a clip with the line “Full free movement was defeated at the ballot box”, and the question: “What changed, Mr Burnham?”

“Full free movement was defeated at the ballot box.”

What changed, Mr Burnham?

You cannot trust a word that comes out of his mouth. pic.twitter.com/WFtbMyWhry

— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) October 28, 2026

For the background to that clip, see Burnham on free movement in 2016.

“No mandate”

Nigel Farage set out Reform’s line on Monday 26 October, after Mr Burnham opened the door to a new relationship with Brussels. “Burnham has absolutely no mandate to reopen the floodgates and destroy Britain’s economy,” he posted. Two days earlier he had called Mr Burnham’s free movement push “a total betrayal of Brexit Britain”, as BBN reported.

Burnham has absolutely no mandate to reopen the floodgates and destroy Britain's economy. pic.twitter.com/KJTYF2S4gx

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) October 26, 2026

Ms Reeves’s article lands squarely on that charge. Labour was elected on red lines that kept Britain out of the single market and customs union. A former Chancellor is now arguing to go back in. The Conservatives say there is no desire to rerun the debate. Kemi Badenoch told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg she “can’t even believe we are reopening” it, calling it “yet another Westminster bubble argument about the EU”. (BBC News)

Yusuf: look at France

On Saturday, the day before her article, Reform shared a clip of Zia Yusuf taking on the case that Brexit has failed. “Nobody watching what’s happening in France right now is thinking I’d love to have a bit of that over here,” he said.

“Nobody watching what's happening in France right now is thinking I’d love to have a bit of that over here.”

Zia Yusuf DEBUNKS the establishments lies about Brexit. 👇 pic.twitter.com/20OfyCxSg7

— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) October 31, 2026

Ms Reeves says Brexit made Britain poorer. Mr Yusuf’s answer, posted on Friday, was that Britain’s economy “has been catastrophically mismanaged by Tory and Labour governments”, that “EU countries like France are doing even worse”, and that Britain must “accelerate AWAY from the EU malaise”.

Tice: “Only Reform will save Britain”

Reform’s Richard Tice answered Ms Reeves on Sunday morning. He said she wants Labour to “drag UK back into failing RIOTING EU”, adding: “Our growth is poor, EU growth even worse.” He asked: “Why open borders to more mass immigration?”

Reeves wants Labour to drag UK back into failing RIOTING EU …..

Our growth is poor, EU growth even worse

Why open borders to more mass immigration?

Only Reform will save Britain from this madness https://t.co/ABCLCQXYq9

— Richard Tice MP 🇬🇧 (@TiceRichard) November 1, 2026

The polls

Rejoiners will point to the polls. An Ipsos survey reported by The Independent on Saturday found 56% would vote to rejoin, up four points since May, with 30% for staying out. It also found that 39% think joining would harm Britain’s ability to act in its own interests. (The Independent)

But polls are not a mandate. Mr Burnham himself has said change would be for the public to decide at an election, due by 2029. This week he also told his Cabinet not to argue for specific options, in what BBN reported as Burnham gagging his Cabinet on the EU. Ms Reeves is no longer in the Cabinet, so that rule does not bind her.

Not just the Lib Dems now

On Sunday morning BBN reported Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper’s claim that Reform is “stuck in the past”, while her party sets out a path back into the EU (read that report). The difference now is that a senior Labour figure, until July in charge of the nation’s finances, is saying the same thing. John Healey has already ruled out free movement this Parliament, and Labour’s manifesto red lines still officially stand.

Our view

This section is opinion.

Rachel Reeves helped draft a manifesto that ruled out the single market, the customs union and free movement. Now she tells us “no one in the Treasury ever doubted” she wanted back in. That is a confession, not a policy. It means she asked for votes on a promise she did not believe in.

Reform has said repeatedly this week that Labour has no mandate. Ms Reeves has just proved the point for them. The youth mobility scheme and Safe are steps on a road, and she has now told us where she thinks it ends. For what the youth scheme means, see our explainer.

If Labour wants to rejoin, it should say so in its next manifesto and let the country decide. Until then, voters are entitled to ask every Labour MP the same question: are you with Rachel Reeves?

FAQ

Is Rachel Reeves still a minister?

No. Andy Burnham sacked her as Chancellor when he became Prime Minister in July. She remains a Labour MP.

Is Labour planning to rejoin the EU?

Not officially. Mr Burnham says any fundamental change would be for the public to decide, in the next Parliament.

Sources

• BBC News, 1 November 2026: Reeves says UK’s future should be inside the EU
• The Guardian, 1 November 2026: Rachel Reeves says UK’s future is in EU
• The Independent, 31 October 2026: Support for rejoining EU grows
• BBC News, 1 November 2026: Sunday newspaper headlines
• Posts on X by Nigel Farage, Reform UK and Richard Tice, 26 October to 1 November 2026 (embedded above)
• Main image: Rachel Reeves, official cabinet portrait, July 2024. Photo: Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street, OGL v3.0, via Wikimedia Commons