Brexit Cost the UK the Only Good Thing Margaret Thatcher Ever Did

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Now that the UK has been taken out of trade zone, we are left only with the damage she wreaked on the British polity

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Now that the UK has been taken out of trade zone, we are left only with the damage she wreaked on the British polity

Both chancellor Jeremy Hunt and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves went to the annual Davos World Economic Forum last week proclaiming that Britain was “open to business”.

These mundane statements of the obvious reminded me of the character in one of Michael Frayn’s ¬novels who had an open mind – “open at the front and open at the back”.

For that is what Brexit has achieved. We spent almost 45 years opening our markets to what is now known as the European Union, adding the considerable benefit of membership of the single market – not least thanks to Margaret Thatcher and Jacques Delors. From the abandonment of monetarism onwards, the emphasis of British economic policy was on attracting overseas investment.

But in one fell swoop – thanks to a wholly unnecessary referendum, founded, alas, on ignorance, prejudice and lies – the Cameron government opened the back door. The single market was designed, from the UK’s point of view, to boost trade with and investment from the EU, but the exit was opened and Britain has suffered.

We are now experiencing the consequence of the bad influence that Thatcherite political economy had on our polity, and the rejection of the good. That is to say: so many of the ills that now so manifestly beset the nation result from the Thatcherite obsession with “¬rolling back the frontiers of the state”, while the economic performance of that same state is now impeded by the rejection of her greatest beneficial contribution to the country – namely membership of the single market. » | William Keegan | Opinion | Sunday, January 21, 2024

Lord Heseltine on Brexit: The Single Market Was Always in Britain's Interest

Sep 21, 2023

Reversing Brexit Now Would Not Help UK Economy, Says Keir Starmer

THE GUARDIAN: Rejoining single market would create even more uncertainty, says Labour leader, who instead wants a ‘better Brexit’

Rejoining the EU’s single market would not boost UK economic growth, Keir Starmer has argued, saying it would create “years of uncertainty” for UK businesses, which would be worse than the closer trade links that would come.

In another sign of Labour’s extreme reluctance to be portrayed as seeking to dismantle or reverse Brexit, Starmer said that as prime minister he would instead seek to improve the post-departure deal agreed by Boris Johnson.

Asked if he thought single market membership would benefit UK growth, the Labour leader told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday: “No, at this stage I don’t think it would, and there’s no case for going back to the EU or going back into the single market. I do think there’s a case for a better Brexit. I do think there’s a very good case for making Brexit work.”

Pressed on why he believed this when so many UK firms have said they are suffering because of the significant extra difficulties of exporting to and importing from the EU, Starmer said the single market was not the solution. » | Peter Walker, Political correspondent | Monday, December 5, 2022

This is poppycock! When it comes to economics, Starmer doesn’t know his a*** from his elbow! To help our ailing economy, the single most important things we could do is to rejoin ‘The Single Market’. Starmer is either telling fibs or he has zero understanding of macroeconomics. God Almighty! We really are screwed in this country with the politicians in office. They tell me that the circus will soon be coming back into town; I think these politicians would be better suited to performing in the circus than they are, or could ever be, in Parliament! – © Mark Alexander