With sluggish growth and a lack of productivity defining the British economy in 2024, it's small wonder a growing number of us are clamouring for the UK to rejoin the European Union.
Despite promises of having more control over our borders and a sizeable £350m a week to invest in our NHS, it's hard to counter the feeling that Brexit Britain feels rather broken. Yet business secretary Kemi Badenoch says it's too early to complain, writing in The Telegraph that departing our European counterparts was a '10 to 20-year project'. She also went as far to say that any benefits of leaving would 'disappear' should Labour win next month's General Election.
She warned: “Making sure everyone is focused on getting those benefits is absolutely critical. I think that’s one area where I’ve tried to do as much as possible, but we need more of that strategy. That’s something that’s going to disappear if Labour come in; they will take us backwards. They will take us back to square one. They’re just going to copy what the EU does.”
But Sir Keir Starmer says a Labour government has no plans to rejoin the EU and has also ruled out a return to the customs union or single market. When recently pressed if he would ever reconsider this, Sir Keir said: “No. It isn't our plan, it never has been, I've never said that as leader of the Labour Party and it is not in our manifesto.”
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The Labour leader said he was after a better trade relationship with the EU and 'much more collaboration' on research and development, education, security, and other areas. He said: “But I do think we can get a better deal with the EU, and if we are elected to government. That is what we will endeavour to do.”
The majority voted for the UK to leave the EU in 2016, officially withdrawing four years later - and the nation has been on a downward spiral ever since. Even the most staunch optimist would struggle to say life's going well, with high inflation, labour shortages, poor economic growth and a lack of trade deals continuing to beat us down.
As such, it isn't surprising recent polling from YouGov revealed most Britons want a referendum on the UK REJOINING the EU within the next ten years. Six in 10 (62 per cent) believe Brexit has been more of a failure than a success, and a 55 per cent majority say we were wrong to vote leave in the first place.
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