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A new report says that UK-EU couples are struggling with 'complex and restrictive' visa issues after Brexit.

The joint study from academics at the University of Bristol and Exeter University is available here.

The research, The Brexit Couples Project, showed that prohibitive visa costs, complex and confusing paperwork, increased bureaucracy and minimum earning stipulations meant many UK-EU couples faced either 'separation or exile'.

Negative impacts of post-Brexit rules included constrained choices around employment and further education, negative impacts on financial wellbeing, couples forced to delay or abandon life aspirations, inhibited political engagement, and an undermined sense of belonging in the UK.

Sir Nick Harvey, CEO of European Movement UK, said:

"This research paints a stark and depressing picture of an issue that has made life extremely difficult for so many couples for years.

"Leaving the European Union also meant separation for many UK-EU couples, as new red-tape kicked in and made the process of simply living with your partner not only far more complex than it had previously been, but also incredibly expensive.

"With UK citizens suddenly subject to the 90-in-180-day rule, couples were forced to spend months apart every year until they could afford to navigate the winding and difficult path to obtain a visa.

"It's time to look very carefully at the entire system, including the minimum income requirement, and simplify what has become a prohibitively difficult process."

Words by Stephen Gethins, MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, who is hosting a debate in Westminster today on the impact of the 2016 referendum on the UK.

It is no surprise that those who shouted the loudest about the benefits of leaving the EU a decade ago are the quietest on its effects now. No wonder that no other else wanted to follow the UK out of Europe! 

Take Nigel Farage for example. He now campaigns on a promise to ‘stop the boats’ yet he refuses to acknowledge that it wasn’t until the UK left the EU that irregular crossings across the Channel increased exponentially. This is all after him arguing in 2016 that the “only way we can control immigration is by leaving the EU.”

However, the overwhelming evidence tells us that the reverse is true with detections of irregular migration falling by a whopping 37% across the EU in 2024, whereas the numbers in the UK have grown. 

No wonder it is those of us who campaigned to remain in the European Union who continue to put this issue on the agenda. I applied for the Westminster Hall debate to mark ten years on from the Brexit referendum as someone who remains pro-EU and would rejoin tomorrow. I am not alone in this aspiration as consistent polling shows that the UK public are in support of rejoining the EU.

In my own country Scotland, a whopping three quarters of all voters of all ages would rejoin. More broadly in the UK, the number is (unsurprisingly) especially high amongst young people, with a recent poll conducted by Savanta showing that 83% of 16-24-year-olds would vote to rejoin the EU.  

Young people are quite entitled to feel let down. The removal of rights and opportunities enjoyed by previous generations was one of the most appalling aspects of Brexit. We as politicians should always strive to leave behind more opportunities for future generations, than we ourselves enjoyed. Whilst the belated plans for the UK to rejoin the Erasmus programme are to be welcomed, it does not go far enough to address the breadth of experiences that our young people are missing out on by no longer being able to benefit from freedom of movement across Europe. 

We are also poorer by remaining outside of the EU, with analysis by the House of Commons Library showing that because of Brexit, the UK Treasury is losing £90bn a year. This astonishing figure almost equates to the entire budget for the three devolved nations combined, and this is without accounting for the billions that the UK continues to pay to the EU every year as part of the Brexit financial settlement. That is £250 million the Treasury must find from elsewhere every single day. These numbers are staggering and begs the question as to why the Government remain steadfast in their commitment to their red lines around staying outside of the Single Market and Customs Union. 

Even in areas where the Government has committed to a closer relationship with the EU, such as the UK-EU security and defence partnership announced in May last year, they consistently fall short of delivering any policy of substance. The recent collapse in negotiations regarding the UK involvement in the €150 billion SAFE financial assistance programme is not only detrimental to the UK defence industry who would have gained from access to this funding, but it also hinders the potential to improve defence capabilities across our continent. 

Other Europeans understand that the security of our continent is at a critical juncture in history. As democratic Europe continues to pull ever closer together in the face of the threat posed by Russia, the UK has been left exposed by leaving the EU, with this exposure being exacerbated by an unreliable partner in the USA. Our European neighbours continue to be astonished by the damage the UK has done to its national security by decreasing cooperation at a time of such volatility and danger and as Ukrainians die to defend their rights to sovereignty and to integrate with the rest of Europe. 

Europe has also pulled together to become more self-sufficient to ensure greater energy and food security for its citizens. In contrast, since the UK left the EU in 2021, more households in Britain are food insecure. Inflation continues to rise and this has been compounded by the fact that as a significant number of workers in the agricultural sector had historically come from EU countries, the sector has experienced labour shortages for several years.

Additionally, the UK continues to have significantly higher electricity costs when compared with other European countries, which is yet another issue worsened by Brexit that adds further pressure on British households already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. 

It is beyond time for Westminster to face up to the consequences of its decisions on a hard Brexit that leave us poorer and less secure. Anniversaries such as this provide an opportunity for reflection on success and the benefits of learning from failure and as we mark ten years on from the referendum, it is clear that the project to leave the EU has failed the British public.

We need to ensure that Europe remains on the agenda at Westminster and that is why debates like mine today are critical for providing opportunities to make the case for a closer relationship with Europe.

Analysis by Greenpeace this week has revealed that ten harmful pesticides banned in the European Union are still being used on UK crops.

Some of the pesticides being used have been linked to cancer and infertility. The investigation by Greenpeace found that they were being used on UK crops, including strawberries and potatoes.

The research is available here.

Since the UK left the EU, it has been able to diverge from EU safety standards. This means the substances are still legal to use in the UK.

The government is currently negotiating a deal with the EU which could see the UK align with EU safety rules, after a 34% decline in food exports to the EU since Brexit.

Caroline Lucas, Co-president of European Movement UK, said:

"Yet again we’re seeing the real-world consequences of how damaging Brexit deregulation is to people's day-to-day lives.

"Toxic pesticides that the EU has rightly banned, because of links to cancer, infertility and environmental harm, are still being sprayed on crops here in the UK. No one thinks this is good enough and it should concern each of us.

"With food exports to the EU falling dramatically since Brexit, alignment with Europe on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules would help remove unnecessary barriers, support British producers and ensure that the food on our shelves in the UK meets the same robust protections as are active now in the EU.

"That’s why the current negotiations on a UK-EU SPS agreement are so crucial. Getting this right is fundamental to restoring trust, protecting our health and giving our farmers the stable, high-standard framework they need to trade and thrive.

"These negotiations are an opportunity for the government to protect public health by choosing higher standards and closer cooperation over risky deregulation.

"Public health, environmental protection and our economic interests all point in the same direction: alignment with Europe's higher standards.”

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with world leaders at the Munich Security Conference to discuss the future of European security. This annual event is a leading forum for international security policy.

"As Europe, we must stand on our two feet," said the PM. "It means acting together, to build a stronger Europe. A more European Nato. Underpinned by deeper links between the UK and the EU.

The PM was met with applause when he then said:

"We are not the Britain of the Brexit years anymore. We know that in a dangerous world, we would not take control by looking inward, we would surrender it."

Responding to announcements from the PM on a shared weapons procurement fund designed to bolster Europe's ability to maintain its own defences, and become less reliant on American assistance, former armed forces minister and CEO of European Movement UK, Sir Nick Harvey, said:

"The nations of Europe collectively have a bigger population, wealthier economy and larger armed forces than Russia.  We should be more than capable of defending ourselves against Russia's military and wider security threat.

"But to make those advantages of scale count, we must plan, configure and equip our defence forces together - and not act in isolation from each other on a national level, as that leads to duplication, waste and serious strategic gaps. In particular, to lever our economic muscle and secure good value for taxpayers, we must procure and pay for weapons and equipment collectively.

"With American interest in European security now so unpredictable, European leaders are right to be acting with urgency on this. And Keir Starmer's strong commitment to Britain playing a central role - as one of Europe's larger military powers - is welcome and timely.

"Starmer is right. Britain's security is Europe's security, and vice versa."

Figures out today show the UK economy expanded by only 0.1% in the final three months of last year.

Analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the economy grew at the same rate of 0.1% as the previous three months. 

It comes the day after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would push for closer integration with the EU to reduce the trade barriers put up by Brexit.

So how much could closer trade ties with the EU help the UK's flatlining economy?

Research last year showed that deep alignment in both goods and services could grow GDP by 1.7% to 2.2%. Alignment on goods alone could boost GDP by 1% to 1.5%.

Brexit is on course to cut UK trade intensity by 15%, the Government’s independent financial watchdog has warned. 

Leading estimates also suggest that by 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time. 

"We estimate that investment was reduced by between 12% and 18%, employment by 3% to 4% and productivity by 3% to 4%" (National Bureau of Economic Research).

Dr Mike Galsworthy, Chair of European Movement UK, said:

"This decade has seen the UK economy on life-support, with some of the worst growth in a century. There is an obvious treatment right on our doorstep, but the government refuses to administer it.

"Every month we delay discussing a customs union or single market access with the EU, or dynamic alignment or a proper sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, more contracts move to Rotterdam or Düsseldorf and never come back.

"The UK-EU reset cannot just be a summit photo, it must mean market access. The UK's economic woes are the true cost of a bad deal. It is time to stop managing decline and start rebuilding a trading relationship that actually works for British industry."

A new report shows that 1 in 5 UK exporting manufacturers have struggled with trading with the EU since 2020.

Analysis by Make UK and DHL reports that 19% of companies surveyed said that their trade with EU markets had reduced and remained lower since 2020.

Among businesses with between 10 to 249 employees, that figure jumped to a massive 54%, showing that smaller firms have suffered more in the post-Brexit trading relationship, citing higher costs, increased red-tape and business uncertainty.

The report is available to download here. The survey sampled 119 UK exporting manufacturers.

It comes on the day that the Business and Trade Committee said that small firms in the UK were operating under ‘pandemic-style pressures’, calling for urgent reforms.

Dr Mike Galsworthy, Chair of European Movement UK, said:

"How many more manufacturers have to lose business before Westminster stops treating EU trade as a culture war footnote? Every month we delay dynamic alignment or a proper sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, more contracts move to Rotterdam or Düsseldorf and never come back. The UK-EU reset cannot just be a summit photo, it must mean market access.

"We are voluntarily stepping away from the team we should be captaining. That is not sovereignty, it is self-sabotage. This research shows the true cost of a bad deal. It is time to stop managing decline and start rebuilding a trading relationship that actually works for British industry."

CEO of European Movement UK, Sir Nick Harvey, looks at why Keir Starmer is right to look at the Single Market as a solution for the UK.

Late last week, speaking to reporters during his recent visit to China, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he wants to “go further” in aligning the UK with the EU Single Market because it is “in our national interest.”  

He also said this on Laura Kuenssberg’s show at the start of the year. And he has said this, twice publicly now, for good reason – both the numbers and the public back it.  

The numbers support it 

The Single Market remains the largest trading bloc in the world, responsible for 41% of the UK’s exports in 2024, and its absence is felt every day by British firms. 

Through leaving the Single Market, in the UK we are exporting less, we are employing fewer people and prices are going up. 

For the UK, joining the Single Market would: 

• Eliminate trade barriers for most goods and services 

• Control and even lower consumer prices 

• Allow capital, goods and people to move freely. 

There is also increasing talk in Westminster of the UK negotiating a customs union with the EU. This idea is being driven forward by the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, Labour backbenchers and even Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy. 

Joining the customs union would undoubtedly have benefits, but those would be much more significant if coupled with closer alignment with the Single Market – and even more if we actually join it. 

The Institute for Fiscal Studies stated that joining the Single Market would add a 4% increase to the UK’s GDP. 

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) maintains that being outside the Single Market has reduced the UK's overall trade intensity (integration into the global economy) by roughly 15%. The UK is a huge market for the EU, providing 51% of the bloc’s imports. Both parties have an interest in increasing the trade intensity between us and, especially on the UK side, of moving back up from the 15% decrease. 

For more on the numbers underlining the economic impact of the UK leaving the EU, see a wide range of sources in our recent news piece here. 

Now, where the PM says ‘alignment’ with the Single Market, the evidence says that we should go further – join the Single Market. 

Alignment with the Single Market leaves the UK as a ‘rule-taker’, as we are now.  

Joining it without being an EU member state will mean the same, but to a lesser extent as the UK would be closer to the table and consulted much more. 

Alignment means lingering customs checks. Joining it will eliminate customs checks. 

Joining also means annual payments, but these would be far outweighed by the economic boost that joining the Single Market would bring. Some of the initial reports on this suggest that the annual contribution is anywhere between £8-9billion, whilst the projected added value is around £80-90billion. 

This is why the answer is not alignment with the Single Market, but joining it fully. This will bring genuinely huge benefits to an economy which needs a sustained shot of adrenaline.   

The public support it 

For example, a recent poll by Opinium, commissioned by European Movement UK, found that 75% favour joining the Single Market to lower taxes. 

Another poll in December 2024 by the European Council on Foreign Relations found that a “majority (54%) of Britons who voted to leave the EU would now accept a return to free movement in exchange for access to the single market”  

More than joining the Single Market, a YouGov poll in early January of this year found that “50% of British voters would now choose to rejoin the European Union”. 

Even a quick search online and you will find a lot of polls telling the same story. 

Time to join, not align with, the Single Market 

Across the UK, something has shifted in the conversation about Europe. In communities, in boardrooms and now, increasingly, in Downing Street, there is a growing acceptance in the UK that the story we were told about life outside the EU does not match the experience people across the UK have endured over the past few years.  

Now, after a long period of denial, the party of government has begun to acknowledge what many of us, including Keir Starmer himself, have said since 2016: Britain’s prosperity is bound up with the success of our closest neighbours.  

The government’s current red lines on Europe were presented as fixed, yet they are already bending under economic pressure, but this should not surprise anyone. When growth is weak and public finances are stretched, clinging to self-imposed limits becomes harder to justify. 

This is not about replaying old arguments or questioning how people voted nearly a decade ago. This is about recognising where we are now and deciding where we want to be. The national interest is not served by pretending that isolation has made us stronger. It is served by facing facts and acting on them. 

Britain is a European country by geography, by history and by shared values. This is why bringing the UK back to the heart of Europe and the Single Market is not a leap into the unknown. It is a practical step towards economic renewal and a more confident role in the world. 

The UK officially left the European Union on 31st January 2020. Tomorrow marks 6 years since its exit from the bloc, amid promises of flourishing trade, increased border controls and cash boosts for the NHS. 

But none of this has happened.

There are few now who think Brexit has been kind to the UK, politically, economically or socially. Polls regularly show a clear majority of the public now favours rejoining the EU.

Here's what has happened:

• Brexit has cut the UK economy by up to £140 billion (Cambridge Econrometics)
• The UK could be more than £300 billion worse off by 2035 (Cambridge Econometrics) 
• Export barriers have added an estimated £8.4bn in costs (NFU/Parliamentary Select Committee)
• Goods trade has decreased by an estimated 18% (NFU/Parliamentary Select Committee)
• Food and drink trade with the EU has dipped by 24% (NFU/Parliamentary Select Committee)
  
• By 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8% (King's College London/NBER)
• UK investment is up to 18% below pre-Brexit levels (King's College London/NBER)
• Employment and productivity down 3-4% (King's College London/NBER)
  
• Brexit is on course to cut UK trade intensity by 15% (OBR)

Sir Nick Harvey, CEO of European Movement UK, said:

"There are very few now who will say with a straight face that Brexit has brought any benefits to the UK. Six years on from the UK's official exit from the EU, it's clear that we have all been bruised in a thousand different ways from our decision to detach ourselves from our largest trading partner. 

"The economy has struggled, businesses have battled against new red-tape that has seen many strangled out of trading with the EU at all, and the UK's international reputation has been hammered.

"We are most of us poorer because of its severe economic damage, our young people have been hamstrung by the removal of their ability to live and study in Europe, and our political landscape has been fractured by a decision that continues to divide, rather than unite. The promised sovereignty feels hollow when weighed against the tangible loss of influence, opportunity and shared purpose. What was sold as liberation has, in reality, become a lesson in the profound costs of isolation.

"It is encouraging that the government now appears to be taking seriously its promise of resetting the relationship between the UK and the EU. However it is yet to translate into the economic benefits that are available on our international doorstep. It must now look at erasing some of its own red lines, starting with the profound benefits that access to the EU's Single Market would bring."