Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said Britain's future lies inside the European Union, arguing that Brexit has made the country "poorer, weaker and less secure". Writing in The Sunday Times, Reeves described her intervention as her first major statement since leaving the Treasury, and said supporters of rejoining must now make the argument, demonstrate tangible benefits and get the next steps right.

The position goes further than the stance Labour took into the last election, when its manifesto pledged to stay outside the EU and make Brexit work. Reeves, who helped write that manifesto, said she welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham's leadership in opening a debate about the future relationship with Brussels. She did not, in the extracts published so far, set out a timetable for rejoining or call for an immediate application.

What she wants from the November summit

Reeves pointed to the UK-EU summit later in November, where she said the minimum should be confirmation of the youth mobility scheme negotiated earlier this year, and progress towards entry into the Security Action for Europe defence partnership, known as SAFE. She also defended her record in office, arguing that recent headlines about economic resilience could not have been written without the work done to repair the public finances. Her speech on Monday at Harvard Kennedy School will be her first public address since leaving the Treasury.