New world, new relationship: Our future with Europe

Europe, meanwhile, is being transformed by these same pressures, turning into a global actor where the UK is merely an observer. But Britain has been negotiating as if none of this has happened. Now, the prime minister has promised to set out the options for our long-term relationship with Europe, and sought a national consensus around one of them.

This report outlines these options, and presents a new, forward-looking set of issues against which they should be judged. Each should be heard in the national conversation the prime minister has opened. But when tested against what Britain needs – security, prosperity and control in a world of blocs – one stands out. We argue that Britain’s future lies in membership of the European Union. Only membership of the EU answers what voters truly demand: control over their lives, relief from instability, and a transformative new approach to the world. Incremental, sector-specific trade deals will not give them that.

This does however require the political groundwork to be laid, both in Europe and at home. This is the task we believe the prime minister now needs to lead. New polling in this report suggests that the UK is willing to follow where politicians lead, as long as they are shown that closer ties matter to the things they care about.