EU Big Read (Image: Daily Express)
For many people, January 31, 2020, is etched into their memories, the historic day when Britain finally left the EU after 47 years' membership.
But as far as memorable dates go, February 3, 2025, doesn't immediately jump out as being remarkable.
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So what is the significance of this particular mid-winter Monday, some five years after Brexit Day?
It just so happens to be when Keir Starmer becomes the first Prime Minister this decade to attend a summit of EU leaders.
Sir Keir regards it as a natural continuation of his efforts to "reset" relations with the bloc. But many see this as his most brazen act of Brexit betrayal yet.
Since he entered Downing Street last July the Labour leader has systematically worked his way through an ever-growing list of ways to hitch Britain to the European bandwagon once again.
His invitation to Brussels follows months of fawning diplomacy during which the Government has overtly courted trading and security partnerships with the EU.
Brexit Day (Image: Getty)
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Keir Starmer's Brexit 'reset' plans slammed by Dixon
Senior ministers have made several visits to meetings of their European counterparts, with Rachel Reeves becoming the first Chancellor since Brexit to attend a meeting of EU finance ministers this week, while David Lammy met with foreign ministers earlier in the year.
February's trip to the Belgian capital was announced after Sir Keir met European Council president Antonio Costa for a cosy tete-a-tete in No10 on Thursday.
Downing Street said the pair also looked ahead to the EU-UK summit in early 2025, saying it would "provide an important opportunity to make further progress on key areas to deliver tangible benefits for the people of the UK and the EU".
This came after Sir Keir and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen agreed to hold a series of annual summits between Britain and the EU when they met in October.
In a public show of his desire for closer ties with Brussels, the Prime Minister boldly declared he was "putting our relationship with Europe on a more solid, stable position. That's what the British people want."
Then and now, Sir Keir's wish list is a long one. He wants closer cooperation on defence and security, including energy security, as well as on climate change, illegal migration, and on delivering economic growth.
He claims he won’t rejoin either the EU, the single market, customs union nor freedom of movement.
Sir Keir says he wants Brexit to work in the UK's interest. But the signs are that he is trying to unpick as much of it as he can, stitch by stitch.
Late one Friday night around three weeks ago the Government snuck out a job ad to hire a new negotiator to help deliver a "reset" of relations with Europe.
They will be paid up to ￡200,000 - more than the Prime Minister himself and with a gold-plated pension contribution of ￡44,324 - to schmooze eurocrats.
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The catchily titled Second Permanent Secretary for European Union and International Economic Affairs will be required to oversee and lead policy development on trade, including theWindsor Framework, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the Entry and Exit Scheme - a new upcoming digital EU border scheme - and other border policy questions.
Downing Street has also been forced to distance themselves from claims of a "Surrender Squad" being set up within Whitehall to reverse Brexit.
Dozens of officials have reportedly been drafted to work on the PM's reset ahead of formal talks with the EU.
Sir Keir has previously said he would seek a better deal with the EU on trade than the one negotiated by former premier Boris Johnson in late 2020.
Through gritted teeth he has also been at pains to say that resetting does not mean reversing Brexit.
But Sir Keir has a big problem. A big Donald Trump-sized problem. The President elect's senior economic adviser Stephen Moore has said the UK has to choose between the European economic model of "more socialism" and the US model, which is based on a free enterprise system.
He said the UK is "caught in the middle", but believed "Britain would be better off moving towards more of the American model of economic freedom and if that were the case, I think it would spur the Trump administration's willingness to do the free trade agreement with the UK".
Experts say Labour's zeal to strip away what it calls "unnecessary trade barriers" is also deeply concerning.
Brussels says those barriers are a result of the UK's own choices: leaving the single market and customs union.
The Government wants to ease the movement of food and drinks exports. It wants easier access for British artists, including musicians, to the EU.
Some member states want enhanced fishing rights in UK waters. As the former
EU negotiator Lord Frost has warned: "If the EU gives you something, it wants something back."
Mr Trump will dominate global politics and economics for the rest of this decade and our special relationship with the US will be crucial to how Britain fares.
Sir Keir's plans for closer links to Europe on security and defence are also problematic. Relations have steadily improved since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The two sides worked rapidly and closely to impose sanctions on Moscow and boost Kyiv's defences with the UK leading the way on the latter.
Rachel Reeves (Image: Getty)
But Sir Keir's push for closer ties with the Brussels bloc puts Nato at risk, according to Nigel Farage.
In the summer, just days after becoming Prime Minister, Sir Keir opened the door to a new security treaty with Brussels as he hosted 46 European leaders at Blenheim Palace for the European Political Community summit. Reform UK leader Mr Farage has warned that Trump could walk away from Nato if the Europeans undermined it with an EU rival.
He said at the time: "Anything that takes us closer to a European Defence Union is a massive strategic mistake."
On migration, there is clear cross-Channel agreement that people-smuggling gangs must be stopped and illegal migration tackled. But how it gets dealt with is the problem.
The Labour leader has scrapped the Rwanda deterrent, now being considered by Germany, which has triggered a surge in small-boat crossings.
But with the stroke of a pen he sidled up to Europe in November, signing three new agreements to crack down on the smuggling gangs.
Saying a "major upgrade" on international cooperation is needed, the Prime Minister announced plans to sign three new agreements with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo.
The deals will increase intelligence sharing, expertise and cooperation in order to intercept criminal smuggling gangs, the Government said.
Meanwhile, it always pays to read the small print. In Labour's election manifesto this year, Sir Keir sought to reassure Brexiteers ruling out a return to the EU single market.
But he did insert a small-print proviso.The Labour leader said that he did not rule out doing much the same thing by realigning Britain piecemeal with EU standards.
This process he has now started.
Lord Frost has pointed out that the Government's unremarkable-sounding
Product Regulation and Metrology Bill is something of a Trojan horse. While it generally covers product safety and weights and measures, a sneakily-inserted Clause 1(2) also expressly allows the Government to import wholesale EU regulations on products' environmental impact.
This clause is not limited to items for export to the EU. It explicitly applies to all goods put on the UK market.
This is a big change.
Although goods for export are for obvious reasons subject to EU requirements, an important benefit of Brexit has been to return to manufacturers and importers dealing purely with the domestic market their freedom to ignore the EU.This freedom is now at risk.
Ultimately, Sir Keir is playing a long game. What Labour strategists are hoping for is a gradual but discreet increase in de facto EU control.
This surrender would leave Britain more and more in the position of an EU rule-taker like Norway or Switzerland.
But Sir Keir's hopes to re-enter the EU's orbit won't go down well with the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit in the first place.
With Reform UK breathing down the necks of both the Conservatives and Labour, the Prime Minister's masterplan for closer ties with Europe is doomed to failure if immigration numbers - both legal and illegal - don't fall rapidly over the next few years and the economy suffers.
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When Sir Keir arrives in Brussels for the February reunion, the Union Jack will no doubt appear next to the European flag.
It will be a stark reminder of what he craves but also what so many people rejected on another historical and memorable date - June 23, 2016 - when Britain decided to quit the EU.