“Brexit betrayal.” “Reversing Brexit.” “EU capitulation.” Three of the many terms I hear from right-wing media and politicians when talking about the Prime Minister. I laugh when they say stuff like that because they really have no idea of the reality. The problem is, however, the reality presented by Keir Starmer’s approach to Europe is no laughing matter at all.
Change
Change. That was Labour’s slogan during the general election. It was the thing for which I spent months and years campaigning. Finally, I woke up on 5 July to see a new Labour MP for my constituency and a new Labour government for my country. No more of the Conservative rhetoric I had to endure for the past fourteen years. The blue skies and sunshine said it all perfectly.
But it wasn’t all going to be rosy. I knew from the get go that things were going to be difficult. There’s a £22bn black hole left by the Conservatives among other things and no magic wand to fix things overnight. Unfortunately, however, despite the good things that have been achieved, our new government has gone about fixing the country the wrong way in some situations.
The real culprit
Apparently, we don’t have the money to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Apparently, winter fuel payments for pensioners had to go to the chopping block. It’s a bit like déjà vu. But let’s remove our heads from the sand and stop pretending we don’t know what the real problem is. That we don’t know the real reason the UK began to collapse. Brexit.
Liz Truss might have crashed the economy in ways never before imagined two years ago, but the United Kingdom was already in dire straits. Covid played its part and, so did and still does, the war in Ukraine. But Brexit was where things began to really go wrong.
A hostile environment lost us countless European workers as many began to leave Britain. The pound plummeted and parliament declared war on itself as the magnitude of the referendum result was realised and many tried to overturn it. All the while, Britain became an international laughing stock. And, by the way, this was all before we’d even acted on the leave vote and left the EU. Since then, trade has suffered, industries have pulled out and bills have gone up. European Union membership won’t cure all our country’s ills, but it will help in leaps and bounds.
Unwillingness to act
Starmer seems to have made it a mission to reset Britain’s relationship with the European Union and foster better ties. That’s good, don’t get me wrong, it is good. Good but not great. Already, our Prime Minister is refusing to reverse Brexit and is seemingly following in Rishi Sunak’s footsteps when it comes to Britain’s participation in an EU youth mobility scheme, by ruling it out. “We do not have plans for a youth mobility scheme but do have plans for closer a relationship between us and the EU.” His words when speaking in Berlin. Did any young people get a say in his decision?
Britain’s young people, who overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU in 2016, were kicked in the teeth when they lost the right to live, travel, study and work across the 27 other European Union member states. Starmer’s refusal to begin to undo this damage with the EU youth mobility scheme signals that, if he is in fact serious about resetting Britain’s relationship with the EU, he is going the wrong way about it. Too much caution is not a good thing. It’s time to be bold for the good of Britain’s future. At the end of the day, strong actions that help Britain recover will be looked upon kindlier than a cautious bare minimum aimed at not upsetting those on the right of British politics. Perhaps this government should take a leaf out of Ed Davey and Jo Swinson’s book and grow the guts to prioritise EU membership in the interests of helping Britain get better.
Starmer and Labour have the next five years in power and the next five years to start turning things around. I fully support them in their mission to do this. But I stand resolute when I say that the execution of the mission needs to change. Unwise choices have been made and the too cautious approach to Europe is a massive one. For the prime minister to truly improve the country, he must grasp the European nettle with both hands, throw caution to the wind and make undoing Brexit a top priority.
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