How to settle the UK’s place in Europe

Brexit was supposed to be “done”. Yet in 2026, Britain’s place in Europe is right back at the top of the political agenda 

While Keir Starmer’s government has promised a pragmatic relationship “reset,” figures like Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting are already looking further ahead towards considering a full rejoin. In a more fragile world order, with greater geopolitical insecurity, the discussion on where we sit in Europe has never been more pertinent. 

In the latest episode of the Policy Fix podcast, host Joe Owen sits down with Professor Anand Menon, director of UK in a Changing Europe and Tim Leunig, chief economist at Nesta

They weigh the economic cost of being outside the EU, estimated by the best academic work at six to eight per cent of GDP, and ask whether the government’s strategy of selective alignment and sectoral deals adds up to a new phase or more of the same. 

The conversation covers free movement and the single market, the customs union, the politics of immigration and cost of living, why the EU has little incentive to make life easy for the UK, and whether rejoining is realistic given the current political climate.