The Tories face electoral oblivion because of their disastrous embrace of Brexit. But if Labour waits until it is in office to work out how to reduce the damage, it may already be too late
What matters is not what is thought by people like us, who comment on Substack pieces, but whether the pieces can gain the attention of policy makers. This is an excellent piece in my view. I sincerely hope that Mr Nixon is doing all he can to get Shadow Cabinet members, who have big demands on their time,to read it.
Starmer is sensibly not wishing to frighten the horses. You are right Simon that he needs a plan for the EU post the election…and a bold one at that. Let’s hope some serious thinking is going on somewhere in the bowels of Labour.
A very informative article which thoughtfully pieces together the complexities of this issue.
One further area where Labour should consider immediate re-engagement is with the Unitary Patent Court (UPC). The UK was a major architect of this new non-EU court system and London was to have been a central seat (the court building was already equipped). The UK ratified its membership of the UPC in 2018, after the vote to leave the EU, only to withdraw that ratification in 2020. However, for over 45 years the UK has been, and remains, a key member of the non-EU European Patent Office, an entity which has granted the vast majority of currently valid UK patents. Our industry and patent professionals therefore benefit from a European patent system which provides a single patenting procedure for protection in up to 39 states - why would we not subscribe to a court system which has substantial jurisdiction over the patents emanating from that system?
Brilliant article - and captures my view perfectly & articulates the "rule taker" trade off perfectly
Rule maker to rule taker
After all THE biggest 2016 lie was that we were happless supplicants as EU members
I would go further, I suspect the biggest impediment to a rapprochement with the EU (rejoin/SM/CU??) is simply what I would term "institutional embarrassment" - from the entire Uk economic, media & political establishment
You see flashes of it being internally addressed by ppl recently- even from Brexiters, Ian Dale accusing a remainer of not making the case for remain hard enought (a bit like a flatearther concerned why believers in the "globe" theory aren't capable of persuading him to believe in "the curve")
To Kemi "free trade" Badenoch's "frustration" in discovering Cameron didn't have a plan to replace EU fictionless trade with WTO frictionless trade - I mean imagine an avowed free trader actually voting for self imposed trade sanctions - how embarrassing
Good essay. But unless Labour have the courage to call another referendum and to rejoin on full terms (no more “semi-detached” status with the £ and no Schengen) they will fritter away both their electoral position and the national economy.
Unfortunately Starmer is spineless; his flip flop over ULEZ shows how hopelessly weak he is when compared to Sadiq Khan, the Labour Mayor of London - who is sound on Europe.
Starmer isn’t spineless. He is well advised not to upset the apple cart and to compare him with Sadiq who has the advantage of being an incumbent. Starmer needs to stick with his 5 aims weaving rejoining into the narrative, step by step. Whether he will is another matter.
We know the answer: he showed his inability to understand a principle and to show leadership over ULEZ. It’s clear that his grasp of economics is pretty shaky.
More worrying for me is the political inability of LOTO (i.e. Starmer and his advisers) to recognise the trade-off between funding TfL and introducing ULEZ that Khan was forced to make (by the Government). An adroit LOTO would have directed voters’ attention to that *before* Uxbridge
Great note! Until it is clear that there will be some political gain in declaring a position on the EU, Labour will remain vague. Probably the correct course of action politically, but the country needs certainty after this Brexit mess. For example, to not even entertain the offer from the EU of free movement for under-30s was disappointing. Would Labour really fall that much in the polls if they were to declare an interest in joining the Customs Union?
What matters is not what is thought by people like us, who comment on Substack pieces, but whether the pieces can gain the attention of policy makers. This is an excellent piece in my view. I sincerely hope that Mr Nixon is doing all he can to get Shadow Cabinet members, who have big demands on their time,to read it.
Starmer is sensibly not wishing to frighten the horses. You are right Simon that he needs a plan for the EU post the election…and a bold one at that. Let’s hope some serious thinking is going on somewhere in the bowels of Labour.
A very informative article which thoughtfully pieces together the complexities of this issue.
One further area where Labour should consider immediate re-engagement is with the Unitary Patent Court (UPC). The UK was a major architect of this new non-EU court system and London was to have been a central seat (the court building was already equipped). The UK ratified its membership of the UPC in 2018, after the vote to leave the EU, only to withdraw that ratification in 2020. However, for over 45 years the UK has been, and remains, a key member of the non-EU European Patent Office, an entity which has granted the vast majority of currently valid UK patents. Our industry and patent professionals therefore benefit from a European patent system which provides a single patenting procedure for protection in up to 39 states - why would we not subscribe to a court system which has substantial jurisdiction over the patents emanating from that system?
Brilliant article - and captures my view perfectly & articulates the "rule taker" trade off perfectly
Rule maker to rule taker
After all THE biggest 2016 lie was that we were happless supplicants as EU members
I would go further, I suspect the biggest impediment to a rapprochement with the EU (rejoin/SM/CU??) is simply what I would term "institutional embarrassment" - from the entire Uk economic, media & political establishment
You see flashes of it being internally addressed by ppl recently- even from Brexiters, Ian Dale accusing a remainer of not making the case for remain hard enought (a bit like a flatearther concerned why believers in the "globe" theory aren't capable of persuading him to believe in "the curve")
To Kemi "free trade" Badenoch's "frustration" in discovering Cameron didn't have a plan to replace EU fictionless trade with WTO frictionless trade - I mean imagine an avowed free trader actually voting for self imposed trade sanctions - how embarrassing
Good essay. But unless Labour have the courage to call another referendum and to rejoin on full terms (no more “semi-detached” status with the £ and no Schengen) they will fritter away both their electoral position and the national economy.
Unfortunately Starmer is spineless; his flip flop over ULEZ shows how hopelessly weak he is when compared to Sadiq Khan, the Labour Mayor of London - who is sound on Europe.
I fear the worst.
Starmer isn’t spineless. He is well advised not to upset the apple cart and to compare him with Sadiq who has the advantage of being an incumbent. Starmer needs to stick with his 5 aims weaving rejoining into the narrative, step by step. Whether he will is another matter.
We know the answer: he showed his inability to understand a principle and to show leadership over ULEZ. It’s clear that his grasp of economics is pretty shaky.
Further national decline is now inevitable.
More worrying for me is the political inability of LOTO (i.e. Starmer and his advisers) to recognise the trade-off between funding TfL and introducing ULEZ that Khan was forced to make (by the Government). An adroit LOTO would have directed voters’ attention to that *before* Uxbridge
…to compare him with Sadiq is unfair, different challenges in different circumstances.
An excellent article.
Great note! Until it is clear that there will be some political gain in declaring a position on the EU, Labour will remain vague. Probably the correct course of action politically, but the country needs certainty after this Brexit mess. For example, to not even entertain the offer from the EU of free movement for under-30s was disappointing. Would Labour really fall that much in the polls if they were to declare an interest in joining the Customs Union?
So you want the UK to rejoin an economic graveyard?
EFTA after the 2028/9 general election maybe?
Too little, too late.