I’m a Remainer, but we have to tell the truth about reversing Brexit

Nigel Farage has been right about one thing in his career: his statement, shortly before the Brexit referendum, that if one side triumphed with 52 per cent of the vote “this would be unfinished business by a long way”. He was anticipating his team would lose, as predicted by polls in the run-up to voting, thus seeding the ground to keep his campaign and his name in headlines. Instead, they won and the country lost, followed by subsequent years exposing the shameless inanity of their arguments and shocking vacuity of that clever slogan about taking back control. If Brexit had not been such a catastrophe – corroding our democracy, shrinking the economy, engulfing firms in red tape, harming key sectors from food exporters through to music, hampering tourists – it might be amusing to look back at the bogus claims made by campaigners. Typical was a ridiculous column by Tory MEP turned peer Daniel Hannan insisting Britain would lead the world by now in biotech and software, with tumbling fuel bills, new industries such as driverless cars springing up everywhere, older industries such as steel and cement becoming competitive again and three more countries following our lead to leave. Steel production has crashed, cement production has fallen and our self-lacerating debacle crushed arguments to quit. For Brexit was built on lies, fuelled by disinformation, and then the stupidity of severing ties with our closest neighbours underscored by Donald Trump’s capture of the White House. But all those charlatans who told voters that Brussels lay at root of their problems have spent the past decade blaming everyone but themselves after their arguments were crushed by reality. Meanwhile, Farage has made his fortune while the Tories – holding their conference this week – have failed to atone for inflicting calamity on the country. Until they face up to this responsibility, they are not fit to govern again.Barely one-third of the public now support Brexit. So Andy Burnham – our seventh prime minister since that divisive vote – is putting the issue back on the political agenda. He has, correctly, said Brexit caused more harm than good, promising to set out options to strengthen the relationship with our most important trading partners. When pressed, he hinted about a customs union or rejoining the single market. Then he said another referendum promise might be in Labour’s election manifesto, although adding it “would not be the right thing to do at this moment”. As a Remainer who argued against Brexit and despise those politicians who used it as a springboard for their ambitions – the sort of people who talked of patriotism while disregarding consequent damage to their country – I am pleased to hear the Prime Minister promote forging closer ties with Brussels. The more his government can do to break down barriers, build defence and security partnerships, reduce red tape, smooth the path for firms to trade and for citizens to travel, the better for Britain. This is increasingly imperative given the speed of technological change, gathering economic storm clouds and hostility of an autocratic alliance that threatens our way of life in harness with a rogue president of the United States. Yet I am hesitant about holding another referendum to rejoin the European Union for three reasons. For a start, my core opposition to Brexit was based not on some kind of federalist fantasy, but on the simple fact that Britain spent 30 years building a globalised economy based on membership of the EU while shaking off many of its most restrictive edicts and retaining control of our currency. This was the legacy of Margaret Thatcher’s 1986 championing of the highly-progressive single market and “Big Bang” deregulation of the City of London (although Burnham, ironically, now complains about the flawed thinking of these past four decades). And she won a hefty rebate after handbagging Brussels, saving Britain about £100bn. Brexit, ripping up this economic model, caused massive disruption for many firms. The boss of one City-based financial services company, for instance, told me he had to spend huge amounts of time and waste considerable sums to set up EU-regulated offshoots of his firm in the Netherlands. Going back in might save money for such operations in the long run – but it would cause fresh costs and upheaval, while there would almost certainly be no rebate for Britain and might be pressure to adopt both the euro and Schengen obligations. Then there are fears of fresh polarisation sparked by another vote, which would be exploited again by self-serving populists, stirred by zealots on social media and stoked by the cyber factories of our despotic foes. We have seen how this issue dislocated our politics, disfigured national debate and distracted Westminster from tackling some of the core problems that led to such disgruntlement among voters. Farage, his pockets bulging with cash from his Thai-based crypto fan as a reward for Brexit, is already smirking and saying Burnham “might just have given me the biggest boost in my career I’ve ever, ever had”. This might just be braggadocio to deflect from his party’s current problems – but it might also be true if Labour opts to re-run the referendum. And the fact this appalling man – architect of our Brexit disaster – has managed to rebound sufficiently to be seen as our possible next prime minister highlights my third concern. He shows how nationalism and populism – inflamed by fear and hate – is surging on our continent. Polls suggest the EU’s two leading powers could easily end up in hard-right hands, reshaping Europe before Labour tests the idea of rejoining at the next general election. Accession would be torturous enough without nativist governments in Paris and Berlin pushing for bigger payments, fewer opt-outs and stricter conditions. Any deal might lead also to referendums in some states over Britain rejoining, leaving our future reliant on the vagaries of their domestic politics. Yes, our relationship with Europe remains unfinished business – but sadly, rejoining might not be the best current solution to end this long-running fiasco.