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  "path": "/politics/rejoining-eu-nick-thomas-symonds",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-05T05:01:01.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "UK risks 'devastating consequences' as EU threatens £69bn car industry with 'trade friction'",
    "Brexit 'sausage war' ceasefire as UK-EU sign landmark trade deal",
    "MPs to debate UK rejoining EU after Labour opens door to Brexit 'betrayal'",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nThe next general election will not be fought over whether Britain should rejoin the European Union, Sir Keir Starmer's chief Brexit negotiator has pledged.\n\nNick Thomas-Symonds, Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations, said he was firmly fixed on developing what he called a \"post-Brexit landscape\" with the EU.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThis did not involve breaching any of Labour's three red lines on Brexit in the party's 2024 election manifesto: no return to the single market, customs union or freedom of movement.\n\nBrexit has been thrust back into the spotlight after Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham suggested they wanted to take the UK back into the bloc if either replaces Sir Keir as Prime Minister.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMr Thomas-Symonds, who is negotiating a better deal with Brussels on youth movement, as well as food and drink trade between the UK and EU, did not think the Brexit debate within Labour undermined his position.\n\n\"I don't know anybody who is saying 'Um' in this debate, other than we have to deliver on the 2024 mandate and in this Parliament.\n\n\"And that is exactly what the work that I am doing.\"\n\nA major summit in London between Sir Keir, the European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council's leader, Antonio Costa, is planned for next month.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAsked explicitly if the next general election will be a \"rejoin election\", Mr Thomas-Symonds replied: \"No, no, no.\"\n\nHe added: \"I don’t see that.\n\n\"But look, I judge everything in terms of the way European politics is at the moment.\n\n\"This is a post-Brexit landscape that I'm determined to make the most of.\"\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * UK risks 'devastating consequences' as EU threatens £69bn car industry with 'trade friction'\n  * Brexit 'sausage war' ceasefire as UK-EU sign landmark trade deal\n  * MPs to debate UK rejoining EU after Labour opens door to Brexit 'betrayal'\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAsked if he had \"moved on\" from the Brexit battles of the past, he said: \"We're looking forward.\"\n\n_Listen to Chopper's Political Podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts._\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Rejoining European Union will NOT be issue at next election, Keir Starmer's Brexit chief pledges"
}