The Bank of England's top official just said out loud what a lot of UK businesses have been saying quietly. In a world run by two superpowers, Britain needs Europe back at the table.
Andrew Bailey, governor of the BoE, made the case on Thursday. His message: free trade is under pressure, the rules are being rewritten by the US and China, and the UK is too small to go it alone.
Bailey did not give a personal opinion on Brexit. As a public official he does not, but he did say what the data shows.
Brexit has weakened UK trade flows. It has also weighed on potential productive capacity - the size of the economy the UK can run without overheating.
That is a measured way of saying Brexit has made the country a little smaller and a little less competitive. For investors, that has shown up in slower goods trade with the EU and a softer growth outlook for UK assets.
The framing is the part that turned heads. Bailey is arguing that the global system that protected smaller open economies is fading, and the new system is being shaped by the US and China.
A mid-sized economy without close trading partners is exposed in that setup. Closer EU ties would give the UK ballast on trade, regulation, and capital flows.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ruled out rejoining the EU's single market or customs union, but he has said he wants to reset trade and diplomatic ties with the bloc. Bailey's comments line up with that direction without endorsing the politics of it.
Bailey has called for closer financial-services cooperation with the EU before. The new wrinkle is the geopolitical framing - he is no longer just talking about regulation, he is talking about strategic positioning.
For markets, the read is straightforward. The UK's path back to faster growth runs through Brussels, not around it.
