I was ten years old when we ‘left’ Europe – and I genuinely thought that our departure was geographic, that we would literally break off from the continent and float out towards America. Even then, I sensed what I know for certain now: leaving the European Union was the greatest act of national self-harm in our modern history. I suppose I wasn’t too far off, metaphorically speaking, but now, as we reach the ten-year anniversary of our departure this May, it is time to look at the broader landscape and review the real ramifications of Brexit.
A slow-motion economic car crash
For a decade, we have lived through a slow-motion economic car crash. The numbers are no longer theoretical; they are written in our bank balances. Our economy is roughly 4% smaller than it would have been. Exports to the EU – our largest trading partner – have withered under billions in red tape. Perhaps most ironically, the ‘sovereignty’ we were promised has resulted in the Northern Ireland Protocol, effectively complicating trade within our own borders. By making trade harder, we made life more expensive, fuelling a cost-of-living crisis that has left British families shivering and stretched.
Safety, immigration, and ‘independence’
But this isn’t just about the ledger; it’s about our safety. Crime, terrorism, and cyber threats do not respect customs booths. By stepping away from integrated EU security frameworks, we have made the tracking of suspects and the sharing of intelligence slower and more cumbersome at a time when global threats are escalating.
On immigration, the “take back control” mantra has proven to be a hollow slogan. Before Brexit, migration was largely legal, controlled, and economically productive. Today, it is higher, more strained, and increasingly chaotic. Meanwhile, an entire generation of young people has been robbed of the right to live, work, and study across a continent. The Erasmus scheme is a ghost of the past, and the horizons of our youth have been artificially narrowed.
We must address the myth of ‘independence’. In a world of eight billion people, standing alone doesn’t make us a superpower; it makes us a spectator. Real sovereignty is influence. Negotiating solo against titans like the US or China, we are fundamentally weaker. Within the EU’s bloc of 450 million, we had a seat at the head of the table. Outside of it, we are simply waiting for the menu.
Rejoining the EU
In 2016, Gordon Brown – a man who famously resisted the euro but championed European cooperation – warned:
“You don’t solve the problems of the 21st century by turning your back on the world.”
Amidst a global climate crisis and shifting geopolitical sands, his words have proven prophetic.
Refreshingly both the Liberal Democrats and the Greens clearly believe that rejoining the EU is the only way to restore our stability and certainty in this increasingly chaotic world. We cannot claim economic sovereignty if our primary trading relationship is in tatters, and according to YouGov, the majority of the British public now agrees.
Going it alone hasn’t made us stronger; it has simply made us smaller. After ten years in the wilderness, it is time for the UK to come home and take back its seat at the table.
