Why is there talk of a Brexit U-turn?
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 14 April 2026
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A decade on, you might have thought Brexit was done and dusted – but our relationship with the European Union is still in flux.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is proposing a reset that could result in the UK signing up to EU rules without the need for a normal parliamentary vote, under what are known as Henry VIII powers.
But in pushing for closer ties with the continent, is he risking a return to rule-taking without any say in what those rules are? And what might this new relationship with Brussels look like?
Niall speaks to Professor Anand Menon, director at UK in a Changing Europe, about the significance of this moment in UK-EU relations.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show: why@sky.uk
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | If you If you're The Full Story First If you thought the Brexit debate was over, think again, and this is why. |
| 0:27.9 | Hi everyone, Neil here. |
| 0:30.9 | And we're going to get started with a pretty straightforward question. |
| 0:35.6 | Did you realise that this June, it will have been 10 years since this? |
| 0:39.7 | This means that the UK has voted to leave the European Union. |
| 0:42.7 | Brexit means Brexit. |
| 0:45.6 | Tonight, we are leaving the European Union. |
| 0:52.7 | Of course, the debate continued for a very long time after the vote. One way or another, we were arguing all the way up to |
| 0:55.5 | 11pm on the 31st of January 2020 when we formally left the EU. Since then, not so much. For whatever |
| 1:03.8 | reason, we haven't seemed keen to talk about it at all. Then along comes Cirqueur Starrmer. |
| 1:10.0 | I think it's in the British national interest for us to be stronger and closer to Europe, |
| 1:15.6 | whether that's defence and security or energy in the economy. |
| 1:19.6 | Any talk of a closer relationship with Brussels is bound to lead to cries of a Brexit betrayal. |
| 1:25.6 | So what exactly is the PM proposing? |
| 1:28.5 | Is he actually ignoring the will of the British people? |
| 1:31.4 | And are we all ready for yet another argument over our relationship with the EU? |
| 1:37.6 | Annen Menin is director of the think tank UK in a changing Europe. |
| 1:42.7 | Anant, let's start at the beginning. I know that we have left the European |
| 1:46.3 | Union. I think we are all very aware that Brexit has taken place. So currently, what governs |
| 1:52.6 | our relationship with the European Union? Fundamentally, the two agreements that were signed under |
| 1:58.5 | Boris Johnson, one of which is the withdrawal agreement, |
| 2:01.2 | that is this backward-looking document that took care of our divorce payments and the ongoing |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sky News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Sky News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.