Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Opinion

Brexit - why can't we just swipe left?

  • Last woman standing - Theresa May lost both her foreign secretary and her Brexit secretary on Monday (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

It's like watching a train wreck, in slow motion, with 3D and Dolby surround sound.

The resignations of Boris Johnson and David Davis from the British cabinet have finally thrust into the open what the dogs in the street have known since the Brexit referendum of 2016.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Namely, the promises of the Brexit cheerleaders – such as Johnson and Davis – are unachievable, totally unrealistic and are based on a strangely nostalgic view of British history rather than on the realities facing Britain today.

No doubt, in the coming days Boris and co. will step back into the Churchill playbook and seek to stir the nation with tales of betrayal, broken promises and the secret machinations of the EU super state.

A covert organisation which, in their minds, is at this very moment hatching dastardly plans to foil the will of the British people.

Watching the football...

It's unclear if the hard Brexiteers view this moment as their finest hour, or perhaps more likely, their Waterloo? In any case, nobody will really care because everybody will be watching the football.

So what happens now? In the strange world of Tory Party politics any course of action is possible.

But if Theresa May really wants to leave any sort of tangible legacy – apart from a real life Dunkirk-style retreat from continental Europe – she needs to stand her ground (and that of civil servant negotiator Olly Robbins), face down the hard Brexiteers within her own party and ultimately, use her new found Brexit policy as the basis for negotiations with Brussels.

Whether these proposals are accepted by the EU or not is irrelevant.

What is important is that they finally represent an acknowledgement from the British government that a hard Brexit scenario would be economically damaging, socially irresponsible and political impossible (particularly in Northern Ireland).

"Taking back control" sounds great, but it's not so easy when you're a global businesses location embedded into European supply chains and your health service is dependent on those annoying EU citizens.

Alas, Boris and David (among others) are now free to roam the pastures outside of cabinet and seek to topple May.

Yet, even if they succeed, all is not lost. A general election with a Tory party led by Johnson or Davis, facing a Labour party commanded by Jeremy Corbyn – all united in their scepticism of the EU – throws up boundless opportunities.

Throw in a slowing economy, President Donald Trump visiting the UK and big business sounding the alarm then the possibilities of the entire Brexit process coming apart at the seams increases exponentially.

Corbyn – increasingly hemmed in by Keir Starmer (his Brexit spokesperson), Momentum (lefty youth and increasingly pro-Europe) and Unite (largest Labour party donor and trade union) – should do exactly what every non-Brexit voter in the UK wishes he had done months ago: come out clearly in support of a second referendum.

Labour fears of general election losses in their traditional heartlands should be balanced against those hefty possible gains in London, other urban centres and in suburbia throughout the UK.

Nothing tends to focus the mind like a period of phoney war, of this the British people are well aware.

In 2019, it's time to recognise that irrespective of being on the right or left of the political spectrum, regardless of whether people voted 'yes' or 'no' in 2016, no matter if there is a Tory or Labour prime minister – isn't it time to give the British people another chance to vote on EU membership?

The entire Brexit debate since at least 2015 has been like a bad date. But this is the age of Tinder, why can't we just swipe left?

Eoin Drea is a senior researcher at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.

Mr Brexit leads mini anti-May rebellion

Britain's Brexit negotiator, David Davis, has resigned in a mini-rebellion, adding to uncertainty on the EU talks as the clock ticks to March 2019.

UK holds internal Brexit summit

Britain's divided government will try to agree on a single Brexit wishlist at Friday's special meeting, but none of the options augur well for EU talks.

EU stays calm as two top UK ministers quit

EU officials said Brexit negotiations will not be affected by the resignations of the foreign secretary and Brexit secretary. European Council president Tusk noted that "unfortunately the idea of Brexit hasn't left" with David Davis or Boris Johnson.

UK's May moves towards 'soft' Brexit

In the wake of two cabinet resignations on the issue, UK government publishes its long-awaited vision for the future relationship with the EU, which would revolve around a free trade agreement on goods, but would end free movement.

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us