By Alexander Brotman

After a trying period of soul-searching, talks of second referendums and endless debates over how Brexit came to be, there is perhaps no greater signifier of the end of Britain’s long Brexit journey than the return to power of the Labour party under Sir Keir Starmer.

After 14 years in power, the Conservatives under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak clung to a narrow vision of Brexit for raw political gain and at the expense of national unity. When David Cameron announced that a referendum on Britain’s membership in the EU would take place, it was widely viewed that the UK would hold firm, remain Eurosceptic and somewhat detached from the continent, but not dare to pull the escape cord. In the process, the UK has revealed much of itself and of its constituent nations, with a fragile peace threatened in Northern Ireland, and Scottish independence looking more likely for a time but now more distant than ever. An entire class of politicians have ridden on the coattails of Brexit and will continue to do so for the remainder of their careers. The UK may never fully distance itself from the events of Brexit in the eyes of Europe and the world, but under Keir Starmer, it must try, and will be well positioned to do so.

Under Labour, the UK is likely to reestablish a sense of confidence and humility about its role in the world. While this role is undoubtedly diminished, it can still be formidable and reputable if wielded wisely. Britain’s next foreign secretary, David Lammy, who identifies as a ‘progressive realist,’ is someone who is humbled by Britain’s past, both the positives and the negatives, and who is determined to make a mark on Britain’s future. For Starmer and Lammy, the task is to lead a Britain that is under no illusions as to its capacity to shape the world to its own image. For not just Labour but the entire political class and the general public in Britain, Brexit has been a humbling experience. It fundamentally........

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