The UK and the EU are entering a situationship

“My guess is in the long run we will end up with something that actually is more ambitious than you would think at the moment,” says Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a British think-tank.

Grant, who was previously a journalist in Brussels, says the UK side are being extremely cautious when it comes to Europe. “Part of that is Starmer is naturally a cautious person, that’s the way he’s made,” he says. A bigger factor in the trepidation is the fact the UK government doesn’t know exactly what it wants yet, he says. “There will be a reset – whether it is minor or whether it is more ambitious is an open question.”

An element of spin will be required from the UK government to sell progress back home. “I think Labour can get away with a deal on youth mobility, if it is called ‘youth exchanges’ rather than mobility,” Grant says.