Sacked Chancellor Rachel Reeves Says Britain's Future Is in the EU, Ahead of November UK-EU Summit

Rachel Reeves is out of the Treasury, and she is not staying quiet about Europe.

In a Sunday Times article published today, Nov. 1, the former chancellor wrote: "Brexit has made us poorer, weaker and less secure." She added: "I do believe Britain's future lies in the European Union."

It is her first major intervention since Burnham sacked her when he took office in July. John Healey replaced her at the Treasury.

What Reeves said

Reeves welcomed what she called Burnham's "leadership" in facing up to the debate over Britain's relationship with the EU. His recent remarks have fuelled questions about whether Britain could rejoin the bloc or adopt its freedom of movement rules.

"No one in the Treasury ever doubted where my instincts were," she wrote.

She also put a condition on her own side of the argument. "It is incumbent on supporters of our re-entry to make the argument, demonstrate tangible benefits and to get the next steps right," she wrote.

For the UK-EU summit later this month, she said Britain should at a minimum seek confirmation of the youth mobility scheme negotiated earlier this year. She also hopes for progress toward entry into the SAFE defence partnership.

The same piece pushes colleagues to go further in ripping up green rules and judicial review powers that slow building. She also wants more done to protect the City of London.

Where Burnham draws the line

Burnham is not going as far as Reeves in public. He wants to lock in deals on food and drink, emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme at this month's summit. Beyond that, he has told ministers the period ahead is for "exploring options" on the long-term relationship.

In a letter to his Cabinet this week, Burnham said any "fundamental change" to post-Brexit arrangements would be "for the public to decide" and left to the next parliament. He warned individual ministers it would not be appropriate "to advocate for specific options or opine on the likely outcome of the process."

Reeves is now a backbencher, not a minister, so that instruction does not bind her.

Healey, the man in her old job, sounds different. Asked whether the UK would rejoin the EU in his lifetime, he joked about his age. He said his job was to "try and make the most of Britain's position now."

A poll of Londoners last month showed two thirds believe Britain should rejoin. That is a poll of one city, not the country.

Harvard on Monday

Reeves is scheduled to give a speech at Harvard on Monday, Nov. 2, her first public address on her own record and on Britain's future. It follows Healey's first budget.

According to the Guardian's account of the planned remarks, she will say pursuing a closer relationship with the EU, even rejoining, can be both credible and radical. "Economically, it is the credible choice," she is expected to say. She will give Burnham "credit for his willingness to face reality head on."

The speech is also expected to address how governments can meet public appetite for radicalism while keeping the trust of financial markets.

Her economic record

Reeves's reputation is not all negative. Healey's first appearance at the International Monetary Fund in Bangkok saw IMF economists praise his predecessor. They said the UK's deficit reduction plan "stands out" among G7 peers.

Some MPs, the Guardian reports, privately say her legacy has been judged too harshly.

Her March Mais lecture also laid down themes that now sit in Burnham's agenda. In it, she argued that "what most distinguishes Britain from our closest peers is the relative underperformance of our major cities outside London, compared to their European counterparts."

She said the north of England had "waited for far too long, for a government that matches warm words with concerted ambition." She called for liberating regions from "stifling Whitehall orthodoxies."

That is language Burnham, a former Greater Manchester mayor, could have written himself.

The backdrop

The EU debate is playing out against a harder security picture. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting wrote in the Telegraph that the UK must be ready for war in a little over 1,000 days, because adversaries' force strength and war economy "could put them in a position to attack" by 2030.

The government launched a preparedness campaign on Oct. 22 urging households to keep nine litres of bottled water and three days of food. That gives Reeves's call for SAFE membership a defence dimension beyond trade.

Her central claim, that Brexit made Britain poorer, is her own assessment. It is not a figure from a government forecast. Burnham's position is that the public settles the question, and not before the next parliament.

The UK-EU summit later this month will show how much of Reeves's wish list, from youth mobility to SAFE, Burnham is willing to put on the table.