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In the middle of the last decade Europe was convulsed as Britain voted to support a right-wing nationalist project, Brexit, and Poland elected an anti-EU right-wing nationalist anti-women project that campaigned against full EU values, laws and partnership.
Today the PiS nationalist experiment is over as the people of Poland vote for Europe. And every opinion poll in Britain says a majority regard Brexit as being very negative for the UK.
So are politicians getting the message? Is Labour getting smarter on Europe? Are the Tories? The BBC reports that Christian Lindner, leader of the FDP and Finance Minister in the shaky coalition government in Berlin, has called for talks with London on damage Brexit is doing to trade.
Lindner is an outlier in German politics, guardian of right-wing Ordoliberalismus. He does not speak for the German government. His party has just 5 MEPs out of 705 members of the European Parliament where he is seen as a block to the reform, pro-growth ideas of the Commission and President Macron.
Any amelioration of the Treaty on Brexit trade with the EU needs the agreement of 27 sovereign governments. It would require the UK government to accept EU rules and offer reciprocity. It is unlikely this can happen under the Sunak government. He may accept that Brexit has not worked out well but his party and the MPs elected on the Johnson liar ticket in 2019 cannot.
So attention now focuses on the likelihood according to polls that next year a Labour led government will take over. In his keynote speech to the Labour Party conference Sir Keir Starmer accused the Tories of telling CEOs “Brexit would only bring benefits to your business.” Hardly a day goes by without a report on the negative impact Brexit is having on British business.
Last year the Labour leader’s line was that he would “Make Brexit Work.” That was first used by Theresa May when she became prime minister and declared in 2016 “It will be the responsibility of everyone sitting around the Cabinet table to make Brexit work for Britain.” Whatever the efforts of her and any of successors as Brexit prime ministers to make Brexit work, voters are not convinced. It has long been an article of faith in the top echelons of Labour that so called ‘red wall’ voters were passionate Brexiters and voted strongly for Boris Johnson to ‘get Brexit done.”
Yet a startling poll finding from Deltapoll published on the eve of the Labour conference showed that 69% of red wall voters (as well as other voters in seats Tories won from Labour in 2019) now think that Brexit has damaged their living standards. Deltapoll also showed 53% blaming Brexit for the state of the economy. Finally in in a surprising finding, 52% support free movement for British and EU citizens provided those moving between the Continent and Britain have a job.
In other recent polls, more than 50 per cent say that if a new referendum were held they would vote to go back into the EU. To be sure, polls are not votes and the 2016 decision was validated in general elections in 2017 and 2019. Today businesses point out the damage being done, not so much by the 2016 vote, but the harsh and excessive interpretation put on it once Boris Johnson became Prime Minister...
more at EU-UK Forum