Do you remember when Brexit was the only thing that we talked about in this country. It paralysed UK politics for six years, saw off at least two prime ministers, and it was an issue that split families and friends asunder.
Once Boris Johnson secured his ‘Get Brexit Done’ election victory back in 2020, most people, politicians and public alike, were happy to park the matter, so sick to the back teeth were we of ‘backstop agreements’, ‘transitional arrangements’, and ‘sovereignty’.
For those who campaigned to Remain, taking a vow of silence on the issue made sense, because, in their analysis, the Tories had stormed to a landslide General Election win due to Brexit. My view then, as it is now, is that Labour’s rout was at least as much to do with Jermey Corbyn as the EU question, but that assessment was not shared by most of those in the Labour hierarchy who mattered.
The Brexiters were happy to stop talking of the new Nirvana they had delivered because – well it was, as those who voted to Remain had predicted, the greatest act of harm a country had inflicted on itself.
Do you recall the rhetoric and the promises of Johnson, Nigel Farage, Jacob Rees-Mogg et al?
We would control our borders. Immigration has exploded since 2019 because of Brexit, with the number of migrants hitting a record of 900,000 people from the 248,000-figure pre-Brexit. As Europeans fled back home, the gaps in our employment market led to Boris Johnson’s government opening the floodgates for hundreds of thousands of migrants and their dependents into the UK – and all this was totally unplanned and unmanageable, according to a minister who served in that government Chris Philip MP.
We would protect our waters. Our fishing industry has all but sank. Brits eat cod, plaice, and haddock – largely caught in continental waters, so we have to import most of the seafood we consume. Our fishermen catch more shellfish – enjoyed mostly by Mediterranean countries. But they like it fresh. So post-Brexit red tape and trade barriers have all but killed UK fishing.
We would do hundreds of trade deals. The only decent deal secured since our EU exit was completed last week with India. Even this comes nowhere near filling the trade cost of Brexit. Deals with New Zealand and Australia have been objectively reviewed as bad for Britain, whilst the ‘deal’ with the US, also announced just last week, is more a tariff arrangement, than a trade concordat. And, given the instability of Donald Trump, is even this limited arrangement worth the paper it’s written on in the medium to long term?
Finally, the economy. Far from delivering the growth promised, and the extra millions of pounds investment into the NHS, Brexit has hit the UK economy with an annual GDP reduction of 4% – or put another way £32billion. I’ll say that again – £32 billion! Every single year!
For context, our financial contribution to be a member of the biggest trading bloc on the planet, after rebates, was £13.2 billion.
So, no wonder Brexiters don’t want to mention the ‘B’ word. But why the continued reluctance to do so from Labour?
In a nutshell, Keir Starmer & co are still spooked by the 2020 loss of the Red Wall, the lurid anti-EU narrative that still seeps from the Right Wing media, and the scars from those endless hours, days, months, ultimately years, of trying to convince the voters that they had got it wrong at the Referendum, only to be punished for it at the subsequent General Election.
However, inevitably, Brexit could not be put in a box and forgotten forever. And now it’s back.
On 19th May a key UK-EU summit will be held, with the government seeking a reset of the trading relationship with our European neighbours.
We want a formal security pact that allows British firms to compete for European defence contracts funded by EU loans. They want access to our waters in order to fish, and a youth mobility scheme for under 30s.
That sounds like a good deal to me – and it should only be the start. By the autumn, if the chancellor Rachel Reeves is serious about delivering economic growth, we need to see a whole swathe of bureaucracy and red tape swept away, removing the burden to British people of more expensive food, longer queues at the border, and hits to our businesses. ‘Fuck business’ indeed!
Labour remains cautious. They don’t want to make a song and dance of their meeting with Ursula Von der Leyen and her EU colleagues. They would prefer to get closer, but under the radar. They are following the Right-Wing headlines and narrative, rather than leading the debate.
The government should relish the opportunity of making Brexit front and centre of political debate again. It is the single biggest reason for our woeful economic performance – and it has, as evidenced, delivered none of the promises made by the Leave brigade.
Labour needs to be brave, bold, and lead the charge toward a more pragmatic, economically beneficial deal with the EU – and welcome the opportunity to shine a light on the utter failure Brexit has been – and those who were responsible for it.
Watch DIBs special UK/EU podcast with Best for Britain below.
