𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The UK has been formally invited to rejoin the EU by the European Green Party. The party, which unites Green parties from across the bloc, has issued the invitation as the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote looms and an embattled Sir Keir Starmer fights for a closer relationship with Brussels.

Vula Tsetsi, co-chairwoman of the European Green Party, said: “On the eve of Europe Day, we European Greens are clear: the European Union must enlarge and its doors should be reopened for the United Kingdom. If, in the future, the people of the UK choose this path, we are ready to welcome them back. Ten years after Brexit, it is increasingly clear that Brexit weakened both the UK and the EU.

“Any political process must begin with a political signal, and today, the European Greens are the first European political family to say clearly that our door is open to a future return of the UK in the EU. We now call on the other European political families to follow.”

Ahead of the 2024 election, the Green Party pledged its MPs would work towards “rejoining the EU as soon as the domestic political situation is favourable and EU member states are willing”.

It also said it supported “joining the customs union as a first step towards full EU membership, and a way of resolving many of the worst problems resulting from Brexit”.

Former Conservative MEP David Campbell Bannerman, who also served as deputy leader of UKIP, said: “The Greens have clearly abandoned their commitment to respecting democracy. The largest-ever vote for anything was made by the British people to leave the EU 10 years ago.”

The European Green Party also supports EU enlargement “from the Western Balkans and Ukraine to any European country that chooses a shared democratic future within the European Union”. It wants the EU to leave behind the era of oil and gas and embrace renewables.

Ciarán Cuffe, who also co-chairs the European Green Party, said: “Europe’s dependence on oil and gas is keeping it weak, exposed and vulnerable. If we are serious about peace, security, and independence, we must break free from fossil fuels and go all in on renewable energy.

“Wind and solar are not just climate solutions, they are the foundation of a stronger, independent and ultimately free Europe. Investing in renewables will protect us from the price spikes linked to fossil fuels.”