MP calls for UK to rejoin EU on anniversary of Brexit vote

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran urged the Government to take steps to rejoin the EU as it would be in “Britain’s best interests”.

She made the call on the 10th anniversary of the referendum, which divided the country and resulted in Britain leaving the EU.

A debate over the future of the UK-EU relationship has reignited in recent weeks after the outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made closer ties with Brussels a key pillar of his “reset” after Labour’s electoral drubbing in May.

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Andy Burnham, the man who many see as a Prime Minister-in-waiting after his Makerfield by-election win and Sir Keir’s resignation as party leader, has pledged not to “re-run” old Brexit arguments.

He has sought to play down the prospect of reversing the 2016 referendum but has said he would like to see the UK back in the EU within his lifetime.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran (Image: Layla Moran)

Ms Moran, who spoke at the Rejoin rally on Saturday, said: ““Ten years on from the disastrous vote to leave the European Union, we are now in a place where Britain has greater inequality, is less secure and more divided. 

“We would have a stronger economy and better defence if we returned to the EU.

“That is why it is in Britain’s best interests to be back in the heart of Europe.”

Labour MP for Oxford East Anneliese Dodds (Image: Contributed)

Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds said Britain needed to work “more closely” with the EU.

She added: “It’s critical for the UK’s economic security that we work far more closely with the EU.

“The first step must be a successful EU Summit in the Autumn. I will be pushing for deals on youth mobility, agriculture and food and emissions trading – and to go further both on economic security (including relating to automotive and tech) and defence and countering foreign interference as well”.

Pensioner David Shorter, who lives in Botley Road, Oxford, is a long-term supporter of Brexit and often decks out his home with England flags, and banners backing Brexit.

Flags outside David Shorter’s home in Oxford (Image: Andy Ffrench)

Sitting outside his home on the anniversary, he said: “We are an island and should not be part of the European Union.

“If they try to reverse Brexit it will cause major upset. We should bring back coal mining, and another big asset is North Sea oil. We should dig and drill.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Westminster had repeatedly failed to listen to people who had asked “to take control of our borders, take control of our laws, and deliver the growth they so desperately needed”.

He said: “I’ve always said that Brexit is a necessary step towards saving the country. But on its own, it’s nowhere near sufficient. It needs a government that will deliver on the freedom it gave us to drag our heads back above the water. It needs a government that will listen.

“The anger and frustration felt by the British people, the anger and distrust in the Westminster class, is a result of the utter failure of that same political class to pay attention to what it was told.

“To take control of our borders, take control of our laws, and deliver the growth they so desperately needed. These desires were ignored. And so was the optimism of the 2016 vote.”