Sir John Major in Conversation with The Independent on the 10th Anniversary of Brexit

Jun 26, 2026 | Sir John Major has given an exclusive interview to The Independent editor-in-chief Geordie Greig, speaking about the impact of Brexit, Nigel Farage’s impact on Britain leaving the European Union, and posing a challenge to Andy Burnham if he were to become Labour leader.

The former prime minister was speaking to The Independent as part of its Europe: The Way Back campaign - launched to explore ways to rebuild Britain's future relationship with Europe.


On the question of Brexit, I agree with Sir John Major. On Kemi Badenoch, on the other hand, I most certainly do not. I am shocked by Sir John Major’s take on her. Kemi Badenoch is four-square against this country’s return to Europe. She also has a number of other whacko ideas. I would wager that the Conservative Party will never be a party that appeals to the British electorate under her leadership. Badenoch is no Margaret Thatcher! She has no mass appeal.

Moreover, how can John Major rue our leaving the European Union AND be for a leader of the Conservative Party who is such a strong Brexiteer? — © Mark Alexander

UK Will Rejoin EU by 2036, Says Former Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg

Jun 23, 2026 | Former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg has predicted the UK will rejoin the European Union within the next decade, likely around 2036.

Clegg argues that Brexit has created ongoing political instability and that the country must eventually acknowledge the "catastrophic mistake" to move forward.

‘A Total, Utter Nightmare’: Small Businesses on Brexit, 10 Years On

THE GUARDIAN: Cheesemakers, farmers, exporters and wine merchants say red tape, lack of vision and rising costs mean they have stopped trading, sold up or retired early

Out of pocket, out of business, retired early. These are the tales of the “sunlit uplands” experienced by small-to-medium-sized businesses across Britain after Brexit.

Between 16,000 to 20,000 businesses stopped exporting to the EU altogether, but others who soldiered on complain Boris Johnson’s government catered for the “blue chips”, not the small, everyday companies when they designed the hard Brexit for Britain.

Cheshire cheesemaker Simon Spurrell says Brexit didn’t just leave him with a £250,000 hole in his small but fast-growing firm, but ultimately lost him his business.

Back in 2021, he described Brexit as the “biggest disaster” any government has negotiated. Looking back, nothing has changed his view.

“Brexit is the biggest self-harm that any government has inflicted on itself in recent history,” he says.

n the first few weeks of 2021, Ben Fletcher, the head of Logistics UK and then at Make UK, described Brexit as “Dante’s fifth circle of hell”.

Five years later? “We got even further down, to Dante’s seventh or eighth circle of hell, at its worst,” he says.

Spurrell was a case in point. He discovered he could no longer export his award-winning cheese to the EU because every sale, even those only worth £30, would need to be accompanied by a £180 health certificate confirming they conformed with EU standards. He sold out to a bigger company that could cope with the paperwork.

“Every small business that issues animal foodstuff – meat, cheese, dairy, eggs, even pet food – suffered massively because they didn’t have the luxury of a large organisation that could blend in the paperwork and have someone dedicated to doing that,” says Spurrell. » | Lisa O’Carroll | Senior correspondent | Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Nobody with even a basic understanding of economics would ever have voted for Brexit. Brexit is, was, and will forever be the wet dream of losers, backward-thinking people, fossils, and the mentally-challenged!

We, the people, and small and medium-sized businesses have suffered greatly as a result Brexit. People like that mouthy, self-enriching, money-grubber and charlatan, Nigel Farage, hexed this country’s economy with that ridiculous notion of regaining our sovereignty. First of all, we never lost our sovereignty in the first place; rather, we pooled it with our brethren in Europe. Second, before the talk of Brexit, I very much doubt whether the average person in the street would have been able to define sovereignty anyway! Most normal people worry about having money in their pockets to be able to enjoy life, put food on the table, and keep themselves afloat. They care little about such abstract notions as sovereignty.

For me personally, Brexit added greatly to my grief. On May 1st that year, my life’s partner had died before my very eyes; so I was already grief-stricken as it was. On the 23rd of June, that year—2016—along came the shattering result of Brexit. I burst into tears; Brexit intensified my already extremely painful heartache and grief. With the death of my American partner, I had lost my window to the West; now, because of Brexit, I had lost my window to the East as well!

I know that I am probably not in any way typical of the average Briton, but I can honestly say, hand on heart, thaI I feel European with every fibre of my being. And with Brexit, that clown and jester had stripped me and millions of other Britons of a possible future in Europe. My window of possibilities was shattered into smithereens.

I shall never forgive Farage for the fiasco of Brexit, because he caused me far too much grief, pain, and sorrow. And it was all for mothing anyway. We the people gained no advantage from Brexit, and our economy has flatlined ever since. The only thing I can think of that certainly hasn’t flatlined is Farage’s bank balance! — © Mark Alexander

The U.K. Is Still Counting the Cost of Brexit, 10 Years After the Vote

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Citing lower trade and investment, analysts broadly agree that Britain’s economy is smaller than it would have been if the country had stayed in the E.U.

This photo is from this NYT article. | Ten years ago, British voters approved by a slim margin a proposal for the country to leave the European Union. The economic results, economists say, have not been glowing. | Andrew Testa for The New York Times
Just before Britain’s fateful referendum on its membership to the European Union 10 years ago, the government of the day gave a stark warning. A vote to leave the bloc would lead to “an immediate and profound shock” to the economy. By a slim margin, the public voted to leave anyway.

The economic warnings were wrong, but only in their timing.

Brexit has damaged the British economy and the costs have steadily accumulated over the past decade, greatly outweighing any benefits, economists say. More visibly, Brexit has unleashed a torrent of political instability: The country will soon get its seventh prime minister since the June 23, 2016 vote, after Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday.

The turmoil has led to a sense of regret: In a recent poll, nearly half of Britons said that Brexit was going worse than expected, up sharply from five years ago. Another survey found that just over half would support rejoining the European Union.

It is hard to be precise about the cost of Brexit, given the other hits to the British economy since the referendum, including the Covid-19 pandemic, President Trump’s tariffs and the wars in Ukraine and Iran. Here’s what to know about the economic impact so far, according to several recent reports. » | Eshe Nelson | Reporting from London | Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Ten WASTED years! Ten years of BELLYACHING! Ten years of FALSE HOPES! For that CAULDRON of HOPELESSNESS, we can thank David Cameron's extremely poor political judgment, BoJo's desire for the keys to Number 10, come what may and regardless of the cost either to Britons or Europeans, and last but certainly not least, the SNAKEOIL SALESMAN par excellence — Nigel Farage.

There are many other blackguards on the Brexit horizon as well, but those are the three MAIN characters. There were several others who caused untold damage to the UK economy, and yet others who couldn't stop salivating because of the money they made from Brexit and other people's misery. People such as Jacob Rees-Mogg who spent his time selling suckers fairy stories about how well off they would be if we left the European Union! That didn't work out too well, did it?

So now, we have a mountain to climb to get back into the European Union AS FULL MEMBERS, minus the so-called opt-outs and the usual British moaning and groaning, and hopefully embracing the euro.

Outside of the EU, I feel like a fish out of water. I am sure I am not alone.

So, let us commence our arduous but exciting journey back to the heart of Europe, where we belong! — © Mark Alexander

Anthem of Europe: Ode to Joy »

Three in Five Gen Z Britons Would Like New Vote to Rejoin EU, Poll Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Data reveals 60% of 18 to 28-year-olds would vote to rejoin bloc if given the opportunity

Screenshot taken from this Mi>Guardian article. | Demonstrators in favour of rejoining the EU in London this month. Hostility toward the UK’s exit from the EU is strongest among the youngest adults. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images
A generation of young Britons who were locked out of the 2016 EU referendum because of their age now believe that Brexit has failed, with a majority demanding a fresh vote to rejoin the EU, exclusive polling shows.

Gen Z Britons show deep dissatisfaction with the UK’s departure from the EU, according to new polling of 18- to 28-year-olds conducted by the thinktank More in Common and shared with the Guardian.

The data reveals that 60% of this cohort would vote to rejoin the bloc if given the opportunity, compared with 9% who would vote to stay out.

When filtering the results to focus solely on those likely to cast a ballot in a hypothetical second referendum, the margin becomes a landslide, with the pro-EU Remain/Rejoin camp capturing 81% of the vote against just 19% for remaining outside.

The More in Common study, which surveyed 440 young people across Britain, shows that 50% of gen Z Britons categorise Brexit as a failure. In contrast, only 16% view the project as a success, while 34% remain undecided. » | Jamie Grierson | Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Three in five Gen Z Britons PLUS this forward-thinking baby boomer! 😊

What Britain needs right now to bring about our return to the European Union is a REAL LEADER with BALLS! A leader with SPUNK. — © Mark Alexander

Two-thirds of EU Citizens Back UK Rejoining Bloc, Survey Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Poll also finds three quarters of people in Britain want closer ties, with majority accepting free movement

Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Activists hold EU flags during the weekly anti-Brexit and pro-EU protest in London’s Parliament Square this week, calling on the UK government to rejoin the EU. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Shutterstock
Two-thirds of EU citizens would back Britain rejoining the bloc, while most UK voters say Brexit has been bad for the issues they care about and want closer ties, including levels of integration – such as free movement – long seen as toxic, a survey has found.

Ten years after the Brexit referendum, the polling by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a thinktank, found 66% of respondents across 15 countries felt UK membership was a very good, good or “neither a good nor a bad” idea.

The average comfortably exceeded those favouring a closer relationship (59%) or the status quo (46%). Support for rejoin ranged from lows of 56% in Bulgaria and 59% in France and Italy to highs of 75% in the Netherlands and Denmark.

Even voters for far-right and EU-critical parties said they would support closer relations between the bloc and the UK, including a majority of backers of Poland’s Confederation (71%), Germany’s AfD (58%) and France’s National Rally (58%). » | Jon Henley | Europe correspondent | Sunday, June 21, 2026

HALLELUJAH! – Mark

ALSO READ:

Brexit isn’t working: British voters are ready for a European future »

What Brexit Really Cost

Jun 19, 2026 | In June 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union. Ten years later, Bloomberg Originals unpacks the economic cost of Brexit and the political forces it unleashed.

People who voted for Brexit were of an ilk. ‘Nuff said! — © Mark Alexander

UK Could Keep Special Pre-Brexit Terms If It Rejoined EU, Michel Barnier Says

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Former chief Brexit negotiator says staying out of euro and Schengen area would be ‘perfectly possible’

This screenshot is from this Guardian article. | Michel Barnier served as the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator and twice as a European commissioner. Photograph: Magali Delporte/The Guardian
Michel Barnier has said Britain could regain its special terms if it rejoined the EU and claimed it was becoming clearer every day to the British people that they would be stronger in Europe.

In an interview before the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum next week, the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator said he could not see any obstacle to the UK keeping the pound and remaining outside the passport-free Schengen travel area should the country rejoin.

The comments cast serious doubt on suggestions from some authoritative voices, including Poland’s foreign minister, that the UK could be forced to accept more difficult terms on re-entering the bloc.

They will be seen as a boost to those who are campaigning for the UK to rejoin the EU, with polling showing that support for rejoining is stronger when the old terms are on the table.

Under the EU treaties, all member states are expected to join the euro, apart from Denmark, which has a permanent opt-out. » | Daniel Boffey | Chief reporter | Thursday, June 18, 2026

ALSO READ:

‘Cynical to get power’: Michel Barnier on Boris Johnson, Brexit and the EU’s future: Former negotiator believes in an unstable world, it is ‘perfectly possible’ the UK can rejoin the EU with old opt-outs »

EU and UK Announce Summit to Discuss ‘Reset’ in Post-Brexit Relations

THE GUARDIAN: Meeting was delayed over details of youth mobility scheme allowing under-30s freedom to work and study in each other’s territory

The EU and the UK have announced they will hold their next summit to discuss the “reset” in relations between London and Brussels on 22 July.

The summit, which will be held in Brussels, has been delayed several times, with talks over a youth mobility scheme allowing under-30s to work, travel or study in each other’s territory deadlocked in recent weeks, fuelling speculation the summit would be postponed until the autumn.

António Costa, the president of the European Council, confirmed the date at the G7 meeting in Evian on Tuesday.

“Close EU-UK cooperation is essential for our shared European security, resilience and prosperity,” he said. “We are working closely together to make our upcoming second summit on 22 July a success.”

The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who could be facing a leadership challenge after this Thursday’s Makerfield byelection, said: “My Labour government is delivering on our promise to reset our relationship and put Britain at the heart of Europe.

“Together we will tackle the cost of living, boost jobs and create opportunities for young people.” » | Lisa O’Carroll, Senior correspondent | Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Brexit: 10 Years of Regret? • FRANCE 24 English

Jun 12, 2026 | On June 23, 2016 the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union with 52 percent of "Leave" votes against 48 percent for "Remain". It was a political storm few had predicted. Ten years on, our Revisited show explores the social and political impact of the decision. How did Brexit reshape the country and has it helped improve people's lives? What has been the impact on the economy and on sectors like farming?

How Britain, Europe and the West Were Changed by Brexit

May 31, 2026 | A fancy dress protest in Boston Harbor on Dec. 16, 1773; a gunshot in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914; a train arriving at the Finland Station in St. Petersburg on April 16, 1917: There are days that change the course of history — when a single incendiary event combusts with explosive forces that propel the world in a new direction. Bloomberg Opinion Columnist Adrian Wooldridge joined David Gura and Christina Ruffini on Bloomberg This Weekend to discuss how Brexit joined the list of days that have made an indelible mark on history.

Brexit was a STUPID act of SELF-HARM. By choosing Brexit, the nation decided to commit suicide in slow motion! This nation is living through that slow death right now! Moreover, it should be added that Cameron showed his naïveté as a politician by giving the nation a referendum in the first place. And for several reasons. These are just a few of them…

Politically, it is very unwise to ask the people to decide on, and vote on, an issue of such humungous importance when even many politicians struggle to understand the intricacies and all-encompassing nature of the institution they were asked to vote on. The Europe question was also an issue of huge constitutional importance. So, to ask one’s granny living up the road, who probably knows little about geopolitics, and understands even less of it, to vote on such an issue which would PERMANENTLY change the future trajectory of the nation was nothing short of STUPID and RECKLESS!

Further, the WEAKENING of the EUROPEAN UNION was Putin’s greatest DREAM. It was speculated that he pumped millions into trying to bring Brexit about. He was certainly pleased to learn the news that the European Union had been weakened significantly by Britain’s exit from the Union.

Many British voters voted in favour of Brexit not for sound economic reasons, but for irrational reasons of emotion. “We don’t want “them forinners” in Brussels telling us what to do!” 😊

The whole caboodle needs to be reversed in whole at the very earliest possible convenience. No ifs and no buts! This nation needs to get back on track. — © Mark Alexander

Rob Groves: Would Burnham’s Labour Finally Kill Off Brexit?

May 23, 2026

Brexit could only have appealed to Brexiteers on an emotional level. It couldn’t possibly have appealed to them on an intellectual level. How can I say this? Because Brexit defied common sense and because it defied all sensible laws of economics.

Voters were manipulated and hoodwinked into voting for Brexit by the few that were going to make a killing from it. Those arch-Brexiteers who led the people to drink from the poisoned chalice couldn’t have cared a damn for the well-being of the electorate because there were simply no real, concrete benefits attached to exiting the European Union.

As a result of Brexit, the British economy has suffered greatly: it has suffered a serious contraction. And people have suffered, too: they are much, much poorer than they ever needed to be. They have also lost all their rights as European citizens. That means FA to the superrich, of course, because they can afford to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to buy back those lost privileges. But that is a luxury the average voter cannot afford.

Actually, Brexit brought with it a serious loss of rights and privileges. Here are just a few of them: Brits have lost the right to move to any EU nation to work, live, and retire; they have lost the right to move around Europe freely, and to stay for as long as they wanted; they have lost their right to free healthcare, even when on holiday, and in any EU nation; they have lost their right to vote in any EU election when living in an EU nation; and they have lost robust consumer protections as well. And all this just to fulfil and cater to the wet dreams of benighted europhobes and xenophobes! — © Mark Alexander

You Can't 'Put Britain at the Heart of Europe' After Brexit

Michael Lambert explains why.
Our politicians are clueless. Hardline Brexiteers are too. — © Mark Alexander

Streeting: We Should Rejoin the EU

Screenshot from this Telegraph article. | Wes Streeting speaking for the first time since he quit the Cabinet | Credit: Jaimi Joy/Reuters
THE TELEGRAPH: Wes Streeting has called for the UK to rejoin the European Union, saying that “Britain’s future lies with Europe”.

The former health secretary said that leaving the EU was a “catastrophic mistake” as he confirmed he will run to replace Sir Keir Starmer at the next Labour leadership election.

Speaking on Saturday at a conference organised by the Labour pressure group Progress, Mr Streeting said: “In 2026, the British people increasingly see that in a dangerous world, we must club together, both to rebuild our economy and trade, and improve our defence against the shared threats from Russian aggression and America First.

“The biggest economic opportunity we have is on our doorstep. We need a new Special Relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe – and one day back in the European Union.”

Mr Streeting’s remarks on the EU signal his first policy position since quitting Cabinet, as he launches a bid to become the next Prime Minister. » | Dominic Penna Senior Political Correspondent. Sabrina Miller Whitehall Correspondent. Camilla Turner Sunday Political Editor | Saturday, May 16, 2026

At last! A politician with the courage to say what needed to be said! We ARE Europeans and our place is right in the heart of Europe. It's our undeniable and inevitable destiny. — © Mark Alexander

ADDENDUM:

I was never a fan of Wes Streeting. Especially as the Health Secretary. But now he comes out with the need for the UK to rejoin the EU, showing his determination to take us back into the Union, he has shown that he is wiser than his youthful appearance would imply. Go for it, Wes! It’s what the young and forward-thinking people of this nation want. Ignore the pleadings of the fossils! — © Mark Alexander

Michael Lambert: Starmer Going? - Will Andy Burnham Start to Reverse Brexit

May 16, 2026 | Since Brexit, Britain has had six prime ministers and is about to have a seventh — and not one of them has fixed the economy. Not one.

The ‘SS British Economy’ continues to sink, and changing the captain won't save the ship.

In this video I explain why: The UK economy is falling behind the economy of every major European nation.

Leader of Reform U.K. Says £5 Million Gift Was ‘Reward’ for Brexit

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Nigel Farage, the leader of the populist right-wing party, had previously said the money was for personal security.

Screenshot taken from this NYT article. | Nigel Farage during a campaign event in London in April. | Henry Nicholls/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Since news surfaced that Nigel Farage received a gift of 5 million pounds from a cryptocurrency billionaire, the leader of Britain’s populist right-wing Reform U.K. party has argued that the money was for his personal security.

On Thursday he offered another explanation, saying that it was “a reward for campaigning for Brexit.”

His comments, made in a video interview with the British outlet The Sun, came as the British Parliament’s standards watchdog confirmed that Mr. Farage was under investigation for not declaring receipt of the £5 million (about $6.7 million), which came from Christopher Harborne, a Briton who lives in Thailand.

Mr. Farage argues that the gift was unconditional, was made before he won a seat in the general election in 2024, and that there was no requirement to declare it. » | Stephen Castle | Reporting from London | Thursday, May 14, 2026

Back to the Future of Brexit

May 13, 2026 | Ten years after the vote to leave the European Union, the rise of populism and increasingly radical leftism could be a foretaste of the American political future.

One can but weep for this country! Brexit has put us into a fine old mess! Brexit has brought us impoverishment, no opportunities for economic growth, and nothing to look forward to. Britons’ rights as citizens have been stripped away, replacing them with a few feudal ‘rights’ as subjects of the King, and little else. Prior to that ridiculous, ill-thought-out Brexit, Britons had a decent future. They could move to any EU country and work there, start a business there, set up home there, avail themselves of free healthcare there, travel visa-free there, and for those who love their pets, because of the ‘EU Pet Travel Scheme’, they could even move there with their beloved dogs, cats, or ferrets! Now, just to travel there involves all manner of hurdles to jump. One could call it the steeplechase of the century!

One of the main architects of Brexit and all the troubles and travails that Brexit brought with it is, of course, that infamous, self-serving, self-enriching snake oil salesman, Nigel Farage. And how the naïve and ill-informed have been taken in by him! They have even gone and cast their vote for him in recent local elections, voting for the very man who has made them poorer! Talk about turkeys voting for Christmas, this was it! — © Mark Alexander

It’s Time UK Media Reminded Farage How We Got into This Mess in the First Place - BREXIT

May 5, 2026 | Let’s call this bull**** out TOGETHER

The 200,000 illegal migrants figure Farage is using is over several years and let’s remind ourselves how we got into this mess in the first place - BREXIT

And now in threatening to punish those parts of the country where people don’t vote his way, the Reform party leader is betraying the basic principles of democracy – it’s shameless and grotesque bullying which shows nothing but contempt for voters.


Unfortunately, plenty of Brits have been taken in with this shyster’s panaceas. I shall never forgive him for Brexit and for hoodwinking the nation into voting for a pig in poke. Brexit was always destined to impoverish the nation. It was inevitable. That many in the electorate were ignorant of, and blind to, its deleterious effects on the economy is forgivable; but that our highly-paid politicians, who are employed to serve the nation, is not. Fie on them all! — © Mark Alexander

Brexit Failed. Farage Did It. Now You're Voting FOR Him?

It makes no sense. Michael Lambert explains.

Britain Should Seek to Rejoin EU, Says Civil Servant Who Led Brexit Department

THE GUARDIAN: Philip Rycroft says promises on issues from economics to immigration have not lived up to expectations

Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Anti-Brexit protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in April. Photograph: James Veysey/Shutterstock
Britain should start talking about rejoining the EU, according to a former senior civil servant who ran the Brexit department.

Philip Rycroft, who was permanent secretary of the Department for Exiting the EU, said the “argument was there to be won” about going back into Europe, adding that a “clear-headed appraisal of what is in the country’s best interests” was needed. However, he said rejoining the bloc could be a “long and windy” road.

“Most economic analysis suggests that we have taken a significant hit to GDP as a result of leaving the single market,” he wrote in the Times. “The precise number, and the impact on our export performance to the EU and beyond, might be subject to debate, but no one can credibly claim that we have marched to the sunny uplands of sustained economic growth as a consequence of Brexit.”

Rycroft said the promises of the Brexit campaign on issues from economics to immigration had not lived up to expectations. “The great promise of a comprehensive trade deal with the USA now seems like an impossible dream,” he said.

“Chill winds don’t just blow through the international trading order. The postwar certainties that underpinned our security as a nation are visibly crumbling. With a hot war on the European mainland perpetrated by a revanchist Russia and an increasingly disengaged America, it is beyond peradventure that we must look to solidarity with our friends and neighbours in Europe to secure our defences.”

He concluded: “The argument is there to be won. It is time to talk about rejoining. It might be time to knock on the EU’s door.” » | Rowena Mason and Lisa O’Carroll | Friday, April 24, 2026

It is to be hoped that this gentleman will apologize to the British electorate for leading them down the primrose path! — © Mark Alexander