'Britain at the heart of Europe': Be bold, Prime Minister, and rejoin the EU for the sake of human rights

Here we are, the Monday after the election results were announced. Results from last Thursday's local, mayoral and devolved elections have, in many ways, upended British politics and the way it has worked for over a century.

This piece won't focus on Reform UK, Plaid Cymru or the Green Party, both of which had success in the elections that took place across regions of England, Wales and Scotland. We looked at this in a bit more detail in the last Saturday Scene newsletter. This piece focuses on Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Labour government, as we enter the period that will determine the direction Labour will take and who will be at the helm of it.

The manoeuvring, calls for Starmer's resignation and negotiations on a way forward are already in full swing. According to Sky News, more than 40 Labour MPs have demanded Starmer's resignation. The next hours and days will determine the outcome.

The Prime Minister's speech this morning attempted to reset his leadership and steady the ship. He laid out how he believes Labour can win back voters and MPs, softening the calls for a new leader.

He announced urgent legislation that will allow the government to nationalise British Steel. However, the part of his speech that caught my attention was this:

"This Labour government will be defined by rebuilding our relationship with Europe, by putting Britain at the heart of Europe, so that we are stronger on the economy, stronger on trade, stronger on defence, you name it."

The upcoming EU summit, the Prime Minister said, will be used to deepen the relationship between the UK and the mainland. According to YouGov, 55% of Britons support rejoining the EU, so the announcement is welcome news, if it weren't for Starmer's continued commitment not to rejoin the Single Market or Customs Union.

Keir Starmer made progress by finally spelling out what a significant proportion of the population already knows: Brexit failed. Brexit was a mistake. It made us poorer and cost us soft power on the world stage. The only way to make the government's growth agenda work is by rejoining the Single Market as a first step, and rejoining the European Union as the second.

But I'm looking at this not only through the lens of economic growth. Rejoining the European Union would be a lifeline for the decline of LGBTQ+ rights in this country. The UK, once a global leader in LGBTQ+ equality, has been sliding down the rankings, now sitting in 17th place on the Rainbow Europe Map, which monitors LGBTQ+ rights across European countries.

The EU's LGBTIQ Equality Strategy, which commits member states to progress on everything from hate crime legislation to cross-border recognition of rainbow families, represents exactly the kind of structural accountability the UK has lost access to since Brexit.

These two threads, economic recovery and the protection of rights, are not separate concerns. They are the same argument. A country that retreats from its international frameworks loses ground on both simultaneously.

Contrast that with the work the European Parliament is doing: pressing for an EU-wide ban on conversion therapy and advancing the cross-border recognition of same-sex families and trans identities. These are not just aspirations. They are legislative commitments that member states are held to.

In his speech, the Prime Minister admitted that incremental changes are not enough, and he is right: incremental changes are not enough to win back the hearts and minds of the country. And they are not enough to reverse the decline of LGBTQ+ rights that has been set in motion over the past decade.

If this government wants the UK to climb back up the prosperity ladder, creating economic wealth and a future that people don't dread; if it wants to reverse the decline of human rights, not just those of LGBTQ+ communities; if all of these progressive values are supposed to be not only visible but practised and lived, then there is only one answer: rejoin the European Union.