Labour judges that closer alignment with the EU is worth the fight

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Labour is planning to introduce legislation that would allow the UK to adopt European Union rules as part of a Brexit reset. The move makes economic sense, reducing unnecessary trade barriers and allowing Britain to strike deals in areas such as farming. But it is controversial because Labour wants the UK to automatically adopt future changes to EU regulations, a process known as dynamic alignment. These new rules would be enacted using secondary legislation, which receives less scrutiny from MPs. The Tories and Reform have described it as a surrender of sovereignty. But Keir Starmer is judging that the public sentiment has moved. Since the end of last year, Labour’s messaging has emphasised the economic toll of Brexit. More recently, Starmer put the benefits of closer EU ties in the context of chaos in the Gulf.