It talks of the "retrenchment of one of the UK’s most important international partners - the United States - which threatens to upend the international laws and norms that have long held the international system together, and which will test the UK’s commitment to the so-called ‘special relationship’."
Retrenchment is putting it mildly, Trump is dismantling democracy in America. Anyway, we pro-Europeans should be grateful that he's driving us back into the EU, albeit unwittingly.
This is from the Executive Summary:'
"Not only is support for closer cooperation with the EU now broad and deep, even among Leave voters, but the majority of Britons now identify as European, as the war in Ukraine, challenges over Brexit, and the retrenchment of the United States, push the UK back towards its European partners. In this shift, Britons hope to find both economic and security solutions to the challenges facing the UK, as the turbulent global environment pushes Britons towards a more hard-nosed, self-interested foreign policy, on everything from international development to trade, partnerships and global leadership."
The USA is still seen as the UK’s closest ally (31%), but the proportion of Britons who view it as such has fallen by 23% over the last year, while 29% of Britons now see the EU as the UK’s closest ally, up from 17%, so more or less equal now. Moreover, the majority of Britons (59%) now believe that the UK’s relationship with the EU is more important than the UK’s relationship with the US.
The research shows that 79% would like to see reduced barriers to importing and exporting food and drink and 78% would like British passport users to be able to use ePassport gates in Europe. Even among Leave voters, there is relatively strong support for closer collaboration with the EU, with fully 70% wanting reduced trade barriers around food and drink.
On Starmer's UK-EU 'reset', the report says:
"This decision to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU is widely endorsed, with 64% of Britons supporting the Government’s approach, including 30% of Britons who strongly support it. Only 20% of Britons oppose how the Government is resetting relations, while 14% neither support nor oppose it and 2% don’t know. The breadth of support for the Government’s approach and the relatively low levels of opposition highlight a clear appetite among the British public, echoed throughout this report, to strengthen and improve UK-EU relations, which Britons view as increasingly critical to UK security and prosperity."
As trust in the US has fallen, a "clear majority (60%) of Britons trust the EU to act responsibly in the world. Trust in the EU has risen substantially over the last two years, up from 53% in 2023 to 60% in 2025."
The majority (51%) of Britons believe that the UK should "prioritise strengthening trade relations when resetting relations with the EU. Meanwhile, only 29% of Britons' believe the UK should prioritise national security, and 15% believe it should prioritise addressing global challenges."
However, the whole thing demonstrates a lack of understanding about the EU on the part of the average British voter. If you want to participate in the SM you need to adopt the rules. We are probably going to find ourselves legally bound to follow EU food standards very soon. In May this year, the Chemicals Industry Association (CIA) said it was "pleased to see" the inclusion of dynamic alignment in the UK-EU reset, so you can bet they too will want a similar deal.
And if food and chemicals are aligned, what is the objection to other industries that want to reduce trade barriers and unnecessary costs being granted the same?
And then we get to the heart of the issue. Dynamically aligning with complex rules you can never veto might be acceptable in Norway or Switzerland, but surely not in the world's sixth or seventh largest economy. It is the old rule-maker/rule-taker argument.
Sooner or later, we have to stop faffing around and demanding the EU negotiate closer or more distant relations on fishing rights, energy trading, the environment, security, and everything else, and get real. You are either IN the EU with all the rights and obligations that entails, or you're a rule taker following regulations that you have little influence over and can't block.
I know which I prefer, and I think a majority in the UK would agree with me.
