EU allies are impatient for Brexit reset, Starmer is told

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to step up his plans for a postBrexit reset of relations with the European Union after an unprecedented warning from the Bank of England.

- KATE DEVLIN

In a speech to leading business figures, the Bank's governor said that Britain must "rebuild" a closer trading relationship with the European Union after our exit from the bloc damaged exports.

The effects of Brexit had “weighed” on the economy, Andrew Bailey added, just hours before the latest figures showed the economy flatlining in the months after Labour came to power. In the wake of the governor’s warning, the UK’s former national security adviser Lord Ricketts warned that “momentum” could be lost.

Lord Ricketts, who is also the chair of the Lords European Affairs Committee but told The Independent he was speaking in a personal capacity, said: “I’m picking up from my European friends that they’ve appreciated the new government’s efforts to warm up the tone and rebuild personal contacts. But they are beginning to be impatient for substance.

“Once the new (European) Commission is formed it will be important that the government has more detail to offer on what they want from the reset, otherwise the momentum will be lost.”

Naomi Smith, chief executive of pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain, said: “With figures today showing sclerotic economic growth and the Governor of the Bank of England unequivocally pointing the finger at Brexit, we must expedite the relationship reset with our European allies whose priorities are already quickly changing following the US election.