NEW from @IPPR UK must seek EU membership to protect our prosperity, security and democracy, says influential think tank 🇬🇧🇪🇺 As prime minister puts options for EU relationship on table, IPPR says full membership should be medium-term goal ‘Time to stop talking about Brexit’ and focus on future in a Europe that has changed in a world that has changed, IPPR says Majority back EU membership across stress test of tough trade-offs, unique new research reveals Think tank urges government to begin by building durable political support for EU As the prime minister opens up a debate over Britain’s future relationship with Europe, a major new IPPR report argues that becoming a member of the EU should be the UK’s medium-term goal. The research argues that the assumptions underpinning the UK’s foreign and economic policy have broken down in the face of Russian aggression, an unpredictable United States and growing economic coercion from China. In a world increasingly organised around large economic and security blocs, IPPR argues that the UK lacks the scale to protect its prosperity, security and democratic institutions alone. The report welcomes the shift towards a wider debate about the UK’s relationship with Europe. It argues that this must now go beyond piece-by-piece negotiations over trade and regulation. Instead, the UK should begin a sustained political rebuild with Europe, with the medium-term objective of securing a democratic mandate for EU membership. New polling commissioned by IPPR and Persuasion UK finds that a majority of voters want a closer relationship with Europe. More than half (52 per cent) want to join the EU, compared with less than a third (29 per cent) who want to stay out. Among those expressing a view, that is a 64–36 split, leaving 10 per cent who ‘don’t know’ and 9 per cent opting out of voting. Even among Labour voters considering switching to Reform, 54 per cent want to join the EU, compared with 36 per cent who want to stay out. In a separate and unique conjoint experiment, voters were shown different combinations of benefits, costs, and arguments for and against joining the EU. They were given only two options: to accept the deal, or not. In this, average headline support for EU membership was 52 per cent.