BBC Radio Newcastle broadcast comments from Kemi Badenoch on 3 October on Labour’s performance in office. The Conservative leader argued while the Tories made mistakes in government, Labour is doing a bad job. Unemployment is going up and there are fewer people paying tax into the system.
Her opinions of the Labour government are highly ironic; the poorer employment record is inextricably linked with Conservative ‘bluekip’ decisions and current policy trends.
Hard versus soft
The Tories under Theresa May chose to implement a hard Brexit, not a soft variety where Britain would have stayed in the Single Market. The Cameron administration failed miserably to apply border controls which were at our disposal as EU members under Article 7 of the EU citizens’ rights directive while Theresa May led the Home Office in 2015. This treaty obliges migrants from another EU member state to hold a job or independent financial resources plus comprehensive medical insurance if they wish to remain in the country for more than 3 months.
Legal experts argued that Brexit, leaving behind the controls that should reduce immigration, could mean more immigration. (Nigel Farage versus Law Graduate). This has been the case as net migration rose massively in the UK since the end of the transition period. Apart from the loss of any possibility to use article 7, Britain left the Dublin convention. The Dublin agreement ensures that a country may deport any asylum seekers if they have previously claimed asylum in another safe country of entry within Europe. This applies to around 50% of asylum seekers.
Net migration rose because British people can no longer move to a European country for work, study, or pleasure post-Brexit. A move to Australia may be attractive, but that would mean a more definitive separation from friends and family whereas a move to Europe is just next door with a plethora of cheap flights and train tickets to facilitate visits to loved ones back home. How many local Geordies here dreamt of a job in sunny Spain, in travel and tourism? Many went to college to gain the necessary diplomas only to have their career plans dashed by Brexit related red-tape. The outbound tourism sector lost around 25,000 jobs. The Tory government didn’t just eliminate job possibilities. It wiped out entire careers and dreams of those who wished to retire to Europe, or work in tourism and the creative sector. This factor contributing to the increase of net migration is not discussed enough in the press. Like it or not, the media barons in this country sway the hand of government one way or another. The presence of Rupert Murdoch at the state banquet for Donald Trump in Windsor is testimony to the power these elite groups wield.
Once upon a time, British citizens had access to a jobs market in 33 other countries as a member of the Single Market. Our departure from this essential trade agreement has forced businesses in the UK to close or drastically reduced their trade. Without those previously healthy turnovers, there will be less business expansion and job creation. I speak for many freelancers who had that market, who have been forced to give up on plans to take on employees in their companies. We can no longer use our business networks, which took decades to become established, to tender for projects. An improved Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement could open up those markets a bit more in future, but greying out those red lines established by Theresa May and her hardliners would be met with cries of betrayal and loss of border control by the far right.
In general, Britain’s reputation as a brand has been severely dented by the isolationism of Brexit. When Kemi Badenoch rails at Labour for ruining the jobs market, she should remember that the phenomenon that truly damaged our jobs and business market was blatant racism from the Tories, UKIP, Farage, et al. Xenophobia ruined the economy, not Starmer; although our prime minister holds the power to improve it if he could muster up the courage to tell the truth to the public, and explain the damage extreme racism has done to our country.
Policies on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and trade
Far-right hate speech and our reputational damage do impact opportunities for British businesses. In order to increase opportunities to deport asylum seekers without further ado, both Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage have called for Britain to leave the ECHR. This narrative also saw Labour MPs look at a review of implementation of the ECHR. Threatening to undermine or leave the ECHR outright does cause uncertainty for the future, especially when it looks like Britain will end up with a Reform majority in 2029. Respecting the ECHR actually underpins the terms of the Brexit trade agreement. Legal and compliance teams in Europe are well aware of these terms. Potential customers using British suppliers for goods and services choose to seek certainty to guarantee continuity of business. Leaving the ECHR would cause an immediate no-deal Brexit scenario, disrupting the supply. Any customers seeking certainty for longer term deals may therefore prefer to opt for European suppliers and partners.
The Tories, influenced by the far right, made Britain poorer and unhappier. So unhappy are the people that they will cling to hope offered by those who make bold promises, but who do not have the experience to deliver practical solutions. Nowadays, such information goes ‘viral’ all over social-media. The backdrop to our society resembles Germany pre-WW2. Discontent, exacerbated by right-wing hate speech, has brough violence to our streets and further tarnishes Britian’s reputation on the world stage. Britain has witnessed some terrible acts of violence motivated by extremist propaganda. The case of the young Sikh girl raped by two far-right extremists is particularly poignant.
If anything, our position could potentially be worse in future, given that the entire planet faces the crisis of climate change if we do not act now to mitigate the damage. Those renewable energy projects, which many politicians on the right-most side of our political landscape deem useless, are a way forward not only to protect the planet but to reduce our energy bills. Britain’s energy infrastructure is not equipped to soak up power generated by some of the wind farms, so much so that input is disabled. Free energy, which could reduce bills, goes to waste…. Our grid is unable to cope when wind energy is very high and the grid cannot effectively distribute electricity to where it’s needed.
Even when wind could meet our demand and be exported, we are unable to use that advantage because the grid cannot handle it. Thus, we waste potential green energy and money. The country still needs to run gas plants for the areas wind power networks cannot reach. The consumer therefore pays more.
Truth and explanations matter
Rachel Reeves should listen to calls to tax the super-rich, not the average Briton who is struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. Labour must also listen to increasing calls from the public for better trade deals with Europe. The general public should remember the following point, which was not discussed by our tabloid press. The EU tax-avoidance directive would have given very rich backers of ‘Vote Leave’ a large tax bill had Britain remained a member. Brexit saved them huge sums. This fact alone may explain why none of them spoke about the possibility we as a nation had to control our borders using Article 7 and the Dublin convention or bothered to make use of these in office.
We cannot expect the general public to be aware of the terms of complex treaties. Who has the time to digest reams of EU legislation? Explanations and facts are tools to fight misinformation by the far-right. They are weapons of truth Starmer and his team can use to protect both our economy and our reputation as a business partner going forward. This could ultimately improve the jobs market.
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