I wrote Labour’s Brexit red lines. This is why it’s time to scrap them | Chris Ward

The world has moved on since 2020 – in uncertain times, closer ties to Europe are the best way to peace and security

Chris Ward is Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven

If offering the public some “breathing space” in the cost of living crisis was the mantra of last month’s budget, the political space it created to revisit our relationship with the European Union may prove more defining.

I’ve spent what feels like much of the past decade immersed in the Brexit debate – first as an adviser, then helping to craft the red lines that shaped Labour’s 2024 manifesto, and latterly as a Cabinet Office minister working on the EU-reset.