After the icy Brexit years, the UK's relationship with the EU might thaw following the election

It's been eight years since just under 52% of the British electorate voted to leave the European Union, in a monumental decision that divided friends, families and the nation.

It still does, to a lesser extent, with polls suggesting that the same vote held now might produce a different result and constituents questioning whether life outside the economic and political union is really better.

Still, "we are where we are" is the attitude of many Britons, with parties of all political colors vowing in the years between the referendum and the actual January 2020 exit, to "make the best of it."

But if Labour — a party which opposed Brexit but pledged to "respect the will of the British people" — wins the forthcoming U.K. election on July 4 as polls suggest, some analysts predicting a thawing of icy relations between the EU and U.K. and, perhaps, even a rapprochement.

For its part, Labour is treading carefully around the thorny subject of Brexit and any post-election win relationship with the EU, eager not to scare the horses — that is, prospective swing voters — ahead of July 4.

Instead, Labour says it will not attempt to rejoin the single market or customs union that characterize the EU's economic framework that facilitates trade between member states — but signals that it wants to improve relations with Brussels.

Instead, the party has said it wants to reduce trade restrictions and a new veterinary agreement to relax checks on agri-food goods (such as health certificates for products of animal origin, which require a veterinarian's signature). It also says it wants to reduce barriers for touring artists and musicians, and to secure a mutual recognition agreement for professional qualifications "to help open up markets for UK