Yes, we knew. You knew. The dogs in the street knew. But it's still a big deal to finally have it confirmed – every previous PM has refused.

Burnham said: "I asked the question coming to Downing Street: was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia? And I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was.

"I think we’ve been too much on the back foot on that, actually, and we haven’t informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas."

One prime minister after another refused to say this until now because they knew it would delegitimise Brexit even further.

We must take this official confirmation as new fuel for our Rejoin campaigning.

Brexit was an attack on the UK by a hostile actor – aided by politicians who continue to defend Russian interests today. It was not democracy – it was the subversion of democracy.

After years of being painted as borderline conspiracy-theorists over the Brexit-Russia connection, it is important to know that all of us were right.

But at the same time, we can't just look backwards. The damage from Brexit is now self-evident, and the benefits of rejoining are clear.

Today, there will be a parliamentary debate on rejoining, following the Rejoin petition getting 111,000 signatures. Then, later, a Commons statement from the government will "urge MPs to face up to the damage caused by Brexit, and embrace closer ties with the EU".

As we have said, they are opening the door. We will continue to push.

Divisive?

The Conservatives this morning said it is "dangerous and divisive of the prime minister to reopen this debate in such an explosive fashion".

They still think we should all have been left in the dark in order to avoid questioning the legitimacy of an illegitimate referendum.

Every time the issue of Brexit is raised, people – even some well-meaning people – say they don't want to re-run a 'divisive' debate.

But it's Brexit itself that was divisive.

Brexit was about nothing but division. It tore us apart from our European neighbours. It won by spreading hate and xenophobia.

Rejoining is about reunion and homecoming. It is about healing and joy. It is the antidote to division.

Over these coming weeks and months, let's remember that Brexit was about division, but Rejoin is about unity.

Senior Downing Street officials have been reaching out to thinktanks and pollsters to gather data on public support for the UK rejoining the EU.

We know what they will find: underlying public support is strong. But to boost it further, and make the public more sure that rejoining is right and possible, we urgently need rejoiners to be heard in this rapidly accelerating media debate.

Donate to our Rejoin fundraiser

What about Farage?

Some rejoiners have held back their real views – pushing for 'closer relationships' or single-market-customs-unions – out of fear of the Brexiters.

Farage's anti-rejoin speech yesterday has spooked some of them again. But one crucial point in the polls is that, when tested, Labour pledging to rejoin does not significantly boost support for Farage's party.

Brexit, as a project, now has little support beyond a far-right rump. Farage himself attacks rejoining, but has long since disowned Brexit. Every other anti-EU party in Europe took one look at Brexit and abandoned the idea of leaving.

We do not need to be scared that rejoining would revive the broken forces of Brexit or boost Faragism.

Would they have us back?

It has been a long-standing dismissal of Rejoin to claim that the EU 'doesn't want us back'. But as an EU official statement said yesterday: "It is for the UK government to set out how it wishes to develop its relationship with the EU going forward. We remain open to engaging on the options it may put forward." They know well that the options will likely include rejoining.

French president Emmanuel Macron put it more simply: "Welcome back". And Pedro Sánchez says Spain would "welcome it with open arms".

There is so much here to build on. We hope you are as excited as we are. More very soon!

They say it's "not if, but how" rejoining will be in the next Labour manifesto.

With the prime minister himself "building the case to put rejoin in the manifesto", we need to mobilise to show more support than ever for Rejoin.

There is a debate on rejoining coming up in parliament - tell your MP to be there:

Write to your MP

At Stay European, we are clear that rejoining should not wait for an election. Every year we stay outside the EU is a 'lost year' for the UK. Talks, at least, could begin now.

But this is still a big moment. Rejoin is now on the agenda at the highest political level. A senior minister said: "If we want to grow the economy then we have to rejoin – we all know that.

“From the discussions taking place, it is not ‘if’ but ‘how’ we do it."

A route to rejoin is clearly opening up. So many people said it was impossible, but we - and you - never gave up.

The upcoming parliamentary debate is also thanks to all of you, as over 100,000 people signed the latest petition to rejoin. European Movement tell us that 24,000 have already sent messages to their MPs. If you haven't yet, please make sure your MP attends:

Write to your MP

"Public opinion has shifted."

That is the conclusion of polling expert John Curtice.

He is right – Rejoin is popular, and we can prove that statistically. So: today, as part of our Stay European website redesign, we have launched our own polling tracker:

See the Rejoin polling tracker

Our average, 61%, agrees with Curtice's calculation. The chart shows the polling from Brexit day to now – and, as you can see, the trend is clearly still upwards.

It's another piece of evidence for you to use in your campaigning: Britain wants to Rejoin.

See the Rejoin polling tracker

At a time when new prime minister Andy Burnham just described Brexit as one of "a series of wrong turns" in British history, it is clear that we are swimming with the stream of public opinion.

Our movement needs to be more confident in its level of public support, instead of running scared of Brexiters and calling for half-measures.

Let's focus on building the biggest possible Rejoin movement – a movement of the 61%, and growing.

Today, Ceira Sergeant from Stay European and National Rejoin March Youth has written in the Guardian on just this issue:

"I was 14 when the UK voted to leave the EU. Too young to vote, but not too young to understand that a decision was being made that would affect the rest of my life.

"In many ways, Brexit was my political awakening. It taught me that politics matters, because decisions made by people in power can change your future before you’ve even been given a say.

"Ten years later, my generation is living with that decision..."

Read the article

This is a rare piece of mainstream media coverage for the Rejoin campaign and we should amplify its impact! Please share the article on social media:

Share on Bluesky

Share on Facebook

Share on WhatsApp

As Ceira's article says, this will also be the theme of next year's National Rejoin March:

"In June 2027, the National Rejoin March will return to London. Every host and rally speaker will belong to the generation that was too young to vote in 2016."

We believe this is a strong message that, as this article shows, has a chance of breaking through with the media.

And we won't just be waiting for 2027 – we'll be pushing as hard as we can from now until then to get Rejoin onto the media and political agenda.

– Stay European

But these welcome steps are peanuts when compared to the elephant in the room: Brexit. It is Brexit that lies behind the cost of living crisis, in the form of persistent inflation, as Bank of England economist Huw Pill pointed out recently.

So our message to the new prime minister is simple: you cannot fix the cost of living while ignoring its biggest self-inflicted cause. To really tackle the cost of living, we must rejoin the EU.

Will Burnham listen? There are some good signs. Last year he supported rejoining, saying "I hope in my lifetime I see this country rejoin the European Union."

He has not repeated this since becoming prime minister, and Labour's infamous 'red lines' are still in place – for now.

But Burnham's choices of ministers are early signs of a shift compared to the Starmer government and its weak 'Brexit resets'. And he will be keenly aware, as he makes daily spending commitments, that the EU by far is the fastest route to get Britain's economy moving again.

When rejoining the EU has 60%+ support in public polls, when the government cannot solve the cost of living crisis without our European friends, and the prime minister has been sympathetic in the recent past... it feels like a moment of renewed opportunity. 

This is our moment to make the case and win the argument, first with the public and then with the politicians, that there is only one real answer to the cost of living crisis – to rejoin. 

Stay European

We estimate numbers between 10,000 and 15,000 – at least enough to fill Waterloo Bridge at one point. Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and Layla Moran MP addressing the march was also a breakthrough, with Layla the first sitting MP ever to do so.

It was covered on ITV, in the Independent and even (sneeringly) on GB News. And perhaps more importantly, ahead of the anniversary of the referendum, it gave press a 'flag in the sand' place to come to get photos, video and interviews giving the rejoiner perspective on the anniversary, which we will see more of across the week.

Thank you to everyone who came, as well as all who supported the march by telling people about it or making a donation! 

Starmer resigns – can Burnham do better?

There are a lot of "why Starmer failed" thinkpieces today. But if you look at the big picture, there's only really one answer: Brexit.

Brexit is without doubt the reason why we have had seven prime ministers in ten years. You just have to look at the term lengths before and after the referendum.

People may say the real reason is the cost of living crisis, but that's just another way of saying Brexit. Or that the real reason is lack of economic growth. Guess what? Brexit!

Even unpopular policies like the winter fuel cut wouldn't have been pushed without the economic ruin that is Brexit.

That is why we must keep up the fight to rejoin – and make clear to the next prime minister, most likely Andy Burnham, that without reversing Brexit there is no way to fix Britain's economy, and so no way to survive any longer than Starmer did. 

We will soon be launching renewed rejoin campaigning aimed at the new prime minister and new government.

We need you with us

The political tide is turning. The next government will be stacked with new ministers who have previously expressed support for Rejoin. Now they just need a big push.

Stay European stands for rejoining the EU – no ifs, no buts. But we can only do this with the backing of people like you.

Add your voice to the thousands already saying: we are European, we want to rejoin, not in a generation – now.

Together, we'll make rejoining not just possible — but inevitable.

Stay European

Reaching 100,000 signatures secures a parliamentary debate on rejoining the EU. It would take place at a crucial moment when the idea of rejoining is increasingly breaking into the mainstream.

We are supporting this last push – can we reach the target today?

Sign the Rejoin petition

If you have already signed, this would be a great day to share the petition!

Rejoining CAN be quick!

In case you missed it over the Bank Holiday weekend, we wanted to highlight an important interview with Sandro Gozi, chair of the European delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Assembly, in the Independent.

Critics of rejoining the EU often claim (without basis) that it would take "a decade or more". That's why his public intervention on this issue is so useful.

Gozi said that the EU would see a UK application to rejoin as a "major victory for the European project" – and would be open to fast-tracking it.

"It could be done more quickly than for other candidate countries because there is the institutional memory there from when the UK was a member. And there is also already some level of alignment between the UK and EU."

This matches up with how we see this issue, including in our book Rejoin: The Facts – yes, there is no specialised 'rejoin' process, but we are in a position to proceed quickly through the standard application, because of the UK's existing level of EU alignment.

You can read more about how long rejoining the EU would take at rejoin.info, our Q&A website that busts the myths about rejoining!

Updates: Rejoin march and walk to Brussels

The National Rejoin March has now reached its fundraising target. Thank you to all who contributed! 

We are proud and grateful that a major chunk of this funding was raised from all of you on this mailing list. We know we pushed it hard last week but it is worth it to know that the march will look well-presented and have a good budget for increased promotion in the coming weeks. 

You may also have seen our recent email about the Rejoin march organisers who are currently walking all the way from London to Brussels, to raise awareness of the demonstration. 

They are due to depart Faversham in Kent this morning for today's leg of the walk, reaching Canterbury tonight and Dover by the end of tomorrow. You can catch up on their progress via their video updates here:

They're doing it all to promote the National Rejoin March on 20 June.

I asked if they have a message for us, and it was simple: if you'd like to sponsor our walk, please donate to the Rejoin march!

You can watch the video here:

When they reach Brussels on 5 June, they will present the European Parliament with a book of heartfelt messages from Rejoin supporters.

If you're in Kent, France or Belgium then you might be able to meet up with them along the way.

It would be easy, today, to dwell only on the gloom. Reform's continued gains at the local elections are unsettling, and politics is fragmenting – but it isn't all going one way.

The government is wobbling once again. The cost of living crisis, driven as we have always said by Brexit, claims prime minister after prime minister. 

A Labour leadership challenge now looks more likely than not. That is a problem for them, but an opportunity for us. Leadership races are precisely the moments when candidates start listening, when policy quietly shifts, and when pro-EU voices have a chance to shape the direction of the contest.

We intend to make ourselves impossible to ignore.

National Rejoin March — Saturday 20 June

Just before the tenth anniversary of the referendum, we will march through central London in our tens of thousands. Ten years on from a vote that broke so much, we will tell the country – and the government – that the case for rejoining the European Union has only grown stronger with every passing year.

We need you there. Bring your friends, your family, your local group. All the information you need is here: 

National Rejoin March info

Europe Day is a reminder of what cooperation between nations can achieve, and of how much poorer we are for having walked away from it. The next twelve months will decide whether Britain begins the long road back. Thank you for walking it with us.

"As the world continues down this volatile path, our long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe and with the European Union."

Keir Starmer announced an "ambitious" summer summit with the EU. But here's the problem: We've heard pledges of ambitious deals before. We've seen summits before. Warm words are no longer enough.

The war in Iran is going to become a new cost of living crisis – with Brexit Britain particularly badly affected. Brexit multiplies economic shocks, and the years since Brexit began have seen shock after shock come down the pipe.

With Trump's US breaking its alliances and insulting us daily, the UK urgently needs to pivot hard back towards Europe. The EU is our only option, both to reverse the economic damage and to rebuild alliances in a hostile world.

We must go beyond tweaks and mini-deals to finally begin the process of rejoining the EU. Let's push for the summit to be the beginning of this process.

The Brexit vote ten years ago was won using xenophobia and lies. For Brexit's architects, though, the point of the project was something else: shifting the UK away from its European alliances and into the orbit of the US.

That project failed long ago. This week, we see starkly how the move away from the EU and towards the US has weakened the UK geopolitically.

Again and again, Trump's US is attacking its supposed allies, using trade tariffs as a political weapon. And every time, the UK refuses to 'retaliate' – and it is clear that there is little that we could do alone in any case.

The only way to stand up to Trump's economic threats is as part of a powerful trading bloc: the European Union.

For the moment, that must mean close EU-UK working on a united rebuke to Trump. And very soon we need to rejoin the EU, to once again have the economic firepower to end our dependency on the US.

We need respect for international law. We need alliances. And if the US is intent on tearing up both, then we urgently need to be part of something bigger than ourselves, just to be able to stand up to the bully in the White House.

The so-called 'special relationship' is over for good. Rejoining the EU is the future.

In June, it will be the tenth anniversary of the EU referendum. Of course this is a grim milestone, but we're also excited that it is major opportunity to put Rejoin on the agenda.

The media will, for once, be paying Brexit the attention it deserves – the airwaves will be full of Brexit's broken promises and economic damage. Politicians are already talking vaguely about closer relationships and customs unions, but they need to be pushed much further.

The National Rejoin March, supported by Stay European, has wisely chosen 20th June for its next demonstration, which will provide a useful focus around the anniversary.

To get ready for those moments of maximum attention, we are working on several tracks, the most important of which is our "positive case for Rejoin" project. 

We are producing a new set of clear, accessible Rejoin materials (physical and digital) aimed at the wider public audience.

Rejoin petition 

The latest Rejoin petition on the official parliamentary petitions website is about to reach 20,000. If you haven't signed yet, please do it today!

Sign the Rejoin petition

Resist Trump's threats to Europe

The first week of 2026 has been characterised by Donald Trump throwing his weight around. 

His intervention in Venezuela has sparked fears for other countries around the world, particularly his obsession with "owning" Greenland – which he repeated just yesterday.

Trump menacing the international order makes European unity vital. The UK needs to stop tiptoeing around Trump and make common cause with our EU neighbours to restrain this new American empire.

We stand with Greenland.

It is a win for every pro-European campaigner, and the latest in a series of EU initiatives that the UK has rejoined, including the Horizon science scheme.

But we must not stop there. We must keep up the pressure.

After the years of silence on Brexit, the debate about the EU is back in the mainstream, with the Lib Dems and even some Labour figures talking about the economic growth that could be unlocked by rejoining the customs union.

We believe the best strategy for the rejoin movement is to support these moves, but also not to limit our campaigning to small, "quick win" demands.

We will continue to campaign for the UK to fully rejoin the EU, building up support for rejoining in the population at large. We must make the positive case for how many problems it would solve, keeping the cost of living crisis at the centre of our campaign.

That also means directly tackling the racism, xenophobia and false solutions peddled by Nigel Farage's Reform party.

As the year comes to an end, we have big plans for 2026 – the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum. The interest around the anniversary will be a huge opportunity to spread the word that rejoining the EU is possible and necessary. 

Rejoin petition 

The latest Rejoin petition on the official parliamentary petitions website has reached 10,000 in its first 8 days.

Let's help keep it going to hit 100,000 and trigger another debate in Parliament:

Sign the Rejoin petition

Foreign interference inquiry

While there is a lot of despair about Reform leading the polls, there was a bright spot: the conviction of their former Welsh leader Nathan Gill for Russia-funded corruption during his time as an MEP.

Now, with that case in mind, the government has launched a wider review of "foreign interference" in UK politics, including the possibility of a stricter regime on political donations.

This is a weak point for Reform, who recently accepted the biggest single donation in UK history, and have been pushing at the limits of the rules by accepting donations in untraceable cryptocurrency.

Many Stay European supporters report receiving letters from Reform recently that appear to have been sent to a large section of the country, regardless of whether elections are coming up.

Reform's success is based on massive funding from questionable sources. Loudly backing moves to cut off this cash is one of the keys to defeating them.

That is what chancellor Rachel Reeves said today. Her 'confession' is part of preparing the ground for tax hikes in the coming budget.

But there is another economic answer: rejoin the EU. As the truth about Brexit slowly makes its way into the mainstream debate, rejoining moves ever closer.

Stay European is at the forefront of building the Rejoin campaign. We are hard at work preparing to make the 10th anniversary of the referendum a huge moment to get rejoiners heard. 

And make no mistake: we are the majority. In the latest YouGov poll, 62% said they want to rejoin the EU. 

With your support, we can push that number up towards the symbolic two-thirds majority mark – and start to put rejoining onto the media and political agenda.

Britain faces a choice in the next few years. We can continue on the path we're on, which means economic stagnation ending in a Reform government – and becoming like a '51st state' of Trump's USA. 

Or we can stand up, fight against xenophobia and racism, reject Trump and Farage – and take the first steps on the road to rejoining the EU and fixing our economy.

The little-noticed Tory conference just committed to the policy of leaving the ECHR, as part of their effort to save Kemi Badenoch's leadership from its inevitable end. 

Nigel Farage's Reform UK has long been pushing to leave. And last week Starmer's Labour, while it still supports the ECHR, unfortunately conceded ground to the attacks by promising spurious 'reforms' of how the courts interpret the treaty.

So we should say clearly: This is the latest fake 'cure-all' from the people who used anti-immigration rhetoric to push through Brexit.

They now claim that the key to getting immigration down, for real this time, is to attack our human rights... all because a handful of people per year take migration appeals to the European court.

This strange obsession, born of a fear of all things European, would barely affect migration in reality – but it would put all of our human rights at risk. It would also undermine the foundations of peace in Northern Ireland, and probably cause a further deterioration in the UK's Brexit deal.

At a time when the British economy is on the skids and far-right racism is rising, we need to defend migrants and refugees, not pander to another pack of lies.

It might seem like pro-Europeans are shouting into the void – but while politicians are busy pandering to xenophobes, the public know more about the real causes of the UK's economic problems than they get credit for. In a recent survey, 69% of Labour voters said that Brexit is "the main reason behind the country’s problems".

So, let's reject the lies about the ECHR – and all of the false solutions being pushed by Farage's party and pandered to by other parties.

Meeting Reform halfway isn't the way to stop them. It's up to us all to expose them as the same charlatans who brought us the disaster that is Brexit. 

There is going to be a massive "Trump Not Welcome" demonstration from 2pm on Wed 17 September, the day Trump arrives – and we're putting Europe at the heart of it.

Stay European, alongside Grassroots for Europe and local pro-EU groups, are supporting the Europe bloc on the demonstration (Bloc G).

The Europe bloc is meeting at W1B 1NR, on Portland Place, after the junction with Weymouth St. 

Feel free to bring EU flags and messages like "No to Trump, yes to Europe"!

Can't make it because it's a weekday? You can still come to the rally at Parliament Square, from 5pm-7pm!

More details about the protest

Politics tends to slow down in the summer, but here are two great Rejoin projects you can back today to get us into a great position for the autumn:

National Rejoin March

This year's National Rejoin March will be held on Saturday 18th October. We know that for many it is becoming an annual tradition, and we want to make this year's march bigger and better than ever.

There is a new start point for the march this time, a new route, new rally and new faces: getting more young rejoiners up on the stage.

More info

New parliamentary Rejoin petition

The first Rejoin petition was signed by over 136,000 Rejoin supporters and resulted in the first-ever debate in Parliament on rejoining the EU.

Now the people behind that petition are back with a new petition to keep Rejoin firmly on the agenda.

Of course, it will take much more than e-petitions for the UK to rejoin the EU. But in this situation, getting MPs to publicly show their support in Parliament is a good first step. 

Sign the petition

The truth is a little more subtle. The deal is positive, but it is only the very beginning of what is needed. We hope that it is a step forward on the road to Rejoin, but there are many more steps to go.

Some relief from the costs of Brexit

The deal at least finally breaks the ‘Brexit taboo’ by openly addressing the issue. The government casually admits to long-denied costs of Brexit such as higher food and energy prices, by saying that this new deal with the EU will “lower food prices” and “drive down bills”.

When lower food and energy prices are on the table, absurd Tory shouts of “surrender!” are not cutting much ice with the public.

The agrifood (SPS) deal will avoid some of the chaos at the border that has afflicted food and plants. Brexiters are raging about fishing rights, but the deal is beneficial for fishing overall because it clears the path for exports to the EU. Far from “selling out fishermen”, it allows them to once again sell their fish in Europe.

However, there is much within this deal that is still to be negotiated, including youth mobility and Erasmus+, and some of the details within today’s headline announcements.

The case to go further

What is most important is that the UK has agreed to the principle of alignment with EU rules, despite the baying of the Brexiters. While Labour’s self-defeating ‘red lines’ remain in place for the time being, increased alignment is positive for the possibilities of rejoining.

But the economic effect of this deal will be quite small compared to what rejoining, or even scrapping the red lines, would unlock.

Now the question will be asked – as it was at the summit’s press conference – if we are going to follow EU rules, why not just fully join so that we can get both the full economic benefit and a say in what those rules are?

And if the Tories and Reform are going to cry “betrayal” whenever there’s an incremental improvement in the deal, why not go all the way and rejoin?

We will have more to say in the coming weeks about stepping up our Rejoin campaigning. For now, let’s celebrate these modest gains and prepare to fight for much more.