The Financial Crisis, Austerity, Brexit, Covid, Ukraine, Inflation — these are the the big events of the last fifteen years, and they are the causes of British unhappiness. It looks as if more bad news is coming. Stagflation, recession, maybe even a sterling crisis, are the next likely headlines.
Yes, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put up fuel and food prices. Yes, Covid threw a spanner in the works of the public finances. Yes, austerity made us unnecessarily vulnerable to economic shocks. And yes, Brexit has made — is making — all of this worse than it is for our neighbours: in Britain we have higher inflation; more shortages in goods; public services that cannot recruit; companies that cannot trade; a weakened union; degraded foreign relations. The list goes on.
Global problems such as Covid and the Ukraine war affect every country in Europe, but only Britain took the road less travelled of austerity; only Britain has the added burden of Brexit; only Britain allows so many of its people to fall into destitution. As a result, Britain has the worst inflation in Europe, the worst shortages in Europe, and the poorest economic forecast this side of Ukraine. If Europe does fall into recession — a racing certainty now — it will be deepest in Britain. Brexit is the straw that is breaking our backs, and wherever you look people are fed up with it.
Until now, Brexit has been a mood, a sentiment, a fantasy wish-list of hopes and dreams quite divorced from economic or cultural reality. Now, suddenly, Brexit is in our lives like an acid, eating away at our living standards, threatening jobs, and dissolving the opportunities of our children. We’re feeling the effects of Brexit in terms of purchasing power, job security, the NHS, housing, even food. This is no longer some abstruse numbers game with no connection to people’s immediate experience. The delusions are yielding to reality: one in eight of us is on a waiting list for NHS treatment — the same NHS that is missing more than 100,000 doctors and nurses — and fully a quarter of us are looking at the grim choice of heating or eating this winter. The cascade of crises we’re facing is affecting millions of people who never thought their country — a rich western country — could be plunged into desperation so fast, so deeply, and with so little hope of relief. Brexit is not solely to blame for all this, but it certainly makes everything harder and more expensive. It’s as if we deliberately shot ourselves in the foot just before setting out to run a marathon and we’re desperately telling ourselves that the wound is actually a clever ruse that will help us go faster.
The only morsel of good news is that the wheels are coming off the Brexit bus. You can almost feel the Brexiteers’ panic as they throw everything into their latest demented frenzy — tax cuts (!), slashing and burning all EU regulation, ever more brutality towards refugees, criminalizing protest, curtailing what’s left of workers’ rights — anything they can think of that might keep the Brexit fires burning. But the flames are clearly dying. Most people now think Brexit was a mistake. The traffic jams at Dover, the higher cost of everything, the falling pound, getting a passport or driving licence, the endless red tape — no one wants any of that. No one voted for any of that. Brexit will not help one jot with securing anyone’s job or living standards. On the contrary, Brexit only makes things worse.
As the public mood turns decisively against Brexit, it’s going to get very uncomfortable for those who brought it to us, as well as those who have done nothing to inform us of its harms: consider the omerta on Brexit that has stifled virtually all criticism for the last five years. Except for a few doughty voices, nobody has dared to criticize Brexit. Thankfully, that is now changing. People are at last calling out Brexit for the mistake it is (though not much on the BBC yet, nor in the Labour party, both of whom, shamefully, still view Brexit as too hot to touch). The myths of “global Britain” and “they need us more than we need them” are collapsing. The plain fact is that Brexit is doing great damage to our country — economically, diplomatically, and culturally. It’s a historic mistake that is lowering living standards for millions, and it’s a stain on our country’s good name.
It is time to emphatically reject Brexit, along with all those who cynically, ignorantly, and even criminally, foisted it upon us.
