Despite the war in Iran and its economic consequences preoccupying ministers, much work is going on behind closed doors in Whitehall to strike a closer relationship with Brussels.

Nearly a decade after Britain voted to leave the EU, Keir Starmer has tasked his ministers with negotiating a post-Brexit reset that aims for closer alignment with the bloc in a bid to bring down prices and cut regulations on businesses.  

In this interview episode of Westminster Insider, host Anne McElvoy talks to one of the Prime Minister’s closest allies, Nick Thomas-Symonds. The Cabinet Office Minister has been notching up the Eurostar hours  back and forth to Brussels in a bid to strike a deal by the summer. Will he and his EU counterparts be able to agree a youth mobility scheme and alignment in key sectors of the economy, or will their differences be too great to overcome?

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