‘Associate membership’ of the EU would be a disaster for Britain

The idea of the United Kingdom becoming an ‘associate member’ of the European Union is a non-starter because it would settle nothing and satisfy almost nobody politically.

For Brexiteers it would involve a future British government – presumably one led by Sir Keir Starmer – breaking its word by setting off on a mission to take the country back to full EU membership and from there to the inner-core of the eurozone.

For ardent Rejoiners it would be a nicotine patch measure. They would have their noses pressed up against the window of their beloved EU, gazing longingly at all the sovereignty pooling taking place among MEPs and Commissioners but with no means of actually joining in.

Rather than settling Britain’s future relations with its fast-integrating continental neighbours it would therefore tip the country back into uncertainty and angst, relitigating old disputes and summoning forth new ones.