UK leader denies he’d seek ‘Swiss-style’ ties with EU; Public opinion, experts now speaking out against Brexit
Even after years of division and vitriol, it seems like Britain still needs to talk about Brexit.
More than six years after voting to leave the European Union, the UK is facing a prolonged recession,
a deep cost-of-living crisis and a shortage of workers. Last week’s
Autumn Statement heralded years of higher taxes and cuts to public
spending.
The gloomy prognosis has re-opened the
debate over Brexit, previously the deadly third rail of Conservative
Party politics, which many thought ended for good with the signing of a
free trade deal at Christmas 2020.
Days after being forced to accept sweeping changes in fiscal policy, Brexiters were last weekend confronted with a Sunday Times story
that said senior figures in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government are
seeking a closer “Swiss-style relationship” with the European Union.
The language angered hardliners who oppose
anything that trades away Britain’s newly won regulatory freedoms. Yet
the very fact that the possibility was broached in public -- and
attributed to a senior government source -- is a departure from the
bombastic “have cake and eat it” era of Boris Johnson or the short-lived
low-tax vision of his successor, Liz Truss.
Chancellor
of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has privately said that the UK should seek
a closer trading arrangement with the EU, in line with the Sunday Times
report, multiple senior government figures familiar with his thinking
said. In the first sign of dissatisfaction with Hunt from within Sunak’s
camp, one senior official criticized the chancellor for speaking too
loosely.
A spokesman for Hunt declined to comment.
Hunt’s views have been over-interpreted by the media, people familiar
with his thinking said.
Changing Times
Yet Hunt’s tone mirrors a shift in public attitudes, with a new poll of polls overseen by UK elections guru Professor John Curtice showing that Britons reject Brexit by 57% to 43%. Last week, YouGov Plc
reported that a record high 56% of respondents now believe Brexit was
wrong. Some 19% of those voted for Brexit but now regret their choice,
YouGov said....
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