I have always hoped for, and in a small way lobbied for, the demise of Brexit. It was a stupid idea, backward looking, and designed entirely to promote the political ambitions of Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage: They have both acknowledged, and even boasted, that the information they gave the British voting public in order to promote Brexit was a pack of lies. The U.K.’s economy has suffered ever since, and the country’s standing in the world has been diminished. Public garroting in Parliament Square comes to mind as a suitable reward for such felonicous behavior. I should perhaps add that David Cameron deserves a great deal of the blame for holding a referendum that he didn’t need to. Politicians break their promises all the time. Promising a referendum in an election campaign is one thing, actually carrying it out had catastrophic consequences.
It was therefore refreshing to read in a recent Economist article that British “voters, by a large margin, think it was the wrong decision”. Some 78% of Labour voters say they would rejoin the EU, and 69% of them favour a referendum within five years. I should add here that a report at the time of Brexit estimated that is would take around 25 years to fully extract the U.K. from Europe, so there is still plenty of time to correct the error.
The problem is turning this voter conviction into action. There appears to be little cohesive movement to force the politicians’ hands. A mass movement in favor of European membership was mostly absent during Britain’s 47 years in the club; it didn’t even materialize in the referendum of 2016. However, the actual implementation of Brexit produced the People’s Vote movement, which raised 100,000 pounds a week in support of a second referendum; a fortune in British politics, and all from email donations alone! That movement has only grown since, but it lacks a structure and a champion.
The British Prime Minister, Sir Keith Starmer, started his push for Labor Party leadership supporting a return to Europe. He has recently backed away from this stance, citing other priorities. It could be his downfall.
What would it take for the growing movement to rejoin Europe to start exerting direct influence on British politics; clear objectives would be a good start. Britain’s constellation of pro-EU groups disagree on whether to support a gradual softening of Brexit, or go directly for its goal of seeking to rejoin. Given his more recent vacillation on the subject, they are also not sure they can trust Starmer to not sell them out. His recent repudiation of the German Chancellor’s idea of youth mobility between Germany and the U.K. has only confirmed their suspicions.
It is certainly possible that a “Knight in Shining Armour” will emerge to champion the cause of a return to the U.K.’s proper standing as the “head of Europe”. If I wasn’t too old, I might consider the job myself!
Almost every economist agrees that the effect of Brexit on the U.K.’s economy has been detrimental and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future. To put it bluntly, when you disagree with what Europe is doing, you exercise your leadership position and get in there and fix it. You don’t “pick up your ball and go home in a huff”.
The Economist article had a sub-heading “Don’t mourn. Organise! That sounds like a plan to me. The impetus from the electorate is growing, and therein lies an opportunity.
It is time to begin the concerted and coordinated planning for the U.K.’s return to the EU, hopefully within my lifetime.
Dear Ian,
I find most of your musings blood curdlingly exiting and correct! They , like all correct opinions fall on frozen soil.
I was a Shipping Clerk and studying for my Shipping exams City of London college in the late 50s. At the time Europe was attempting a marraige of European countries to bring import duties to nill.
The Title envisiged was a 20 per ce nt reduction in tarifs over 5 years bringing import duties over the period to nill.
The involved Countries would then be collectively called, The Common Market.
At the time, an imported item had to be unloaded in a London Dock and the duties decided by clerks such as me, wading through a 3inch book called The Tariff.
From this, compiled over centuries, by learned scholars, we tried to find a section in which the alotted imported item could be catagorised.
This imformation was then transferred by me and others onto
a large form called a C105 onto which said item was itemised as per the tarrif, the duty calculated and the form sent to Adelaide House, the London Custom House, for clarification. If my tarif entry was correct, said item could be released for collection, or delivery.
If the C105 had the item enterred against the wrong description, the form was sent back for re entering under the correct heading.
This process was reduced over 5 years until all border controls were open and such onerous paperwork
Made redundant.
The Common Market then became the European Common Market, probably renamed by a little Civil Servant whos , 6 week a year holiday, work from home, early retirement, massive renumeration job was to find names to alter,
And then the European Union. Which has been eroded to nothing thanks to the missimformation pre Reforemdom group .
So , in one fell swoop. The propagandists asured us that the second we voted out, the barriers cane down and anone that wasnt Brit. Didnt get in to good old UK.
All it did was create chaos to all import agencies who still had a VAT problem to sort. VAT was the evil little tax that loosley replaced
Purchase tax.
Now we may go back to the old days, same old.
Maybe I can get a job in my old Shipping company, but no, on a recent visit, I was sad to see that the magnificent Victorian building we occupied, had been turned into a Weatherspoons.
Probably filled with WFH ex Civil Servants on their 4 hour lunches.
Talk soon Ian.
Barrie
Ian,
I would agree that David Cameron should receive much of the blame for the Brexit vote. This , mainly for two reasons. He made no real effort to convince the British public of the benefits and risks of their decision, and, secondly, he trusted the British public to show some common sense. Of course the British public who voted for Brexit should take most of the blame.
Steve