- New ECFR [European Council on Foreign Relations] polling shows British voters see Brexit as a disaster. They are strikingly open to reintegration with the EU. Three quarters want a closer relationship.
- They see that as key to improvements on the economy, security and migration. Old red lines are falling away, with a majority open to freedom of movement and even a European nuclear deterrent.
- Brits much prefer EU states and even the EU itself over the US, sentiments that are reciprocated within the union.
- Leaving the 2016 politics of “leavers” and “remainers” far behind, they are now split into “Optimists” (for confident reintegration), “Realists” (for negotiated closer relations) and “Loners” (for continued distance).
- Politicians must build a broad consensus on UK-EU relations reflecting the Britain of 2026 rather than that of 2016.
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The Brexit divide may have represented an earthquake in British politics a decade ago, and even a useful category in the 2017 and 2019 general elections, but with each passing year it is becoming less relevant as new experiences and debates reconfigure an electorate that is itself evolving over time. Talk of “leavers” and “remainers” is on the way to resembling that of Roundheads and Cavaliers in the English Civil War, or of supporters and opponents of the 19th-century Corn Laws; the relic of a long-past historical clash rather than a guide to future political behaviour.
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British voters of all political hues have left the old leaver-remainer rift behind. They may well be divided on many other things, as the country’s party-political fragmentation suggests, but on the future of UK-EU relations there is a lot of common ground. Therein lies a chance to leave the old polarisation of the 2016 era behind. The referendum ten years ago sometimes seemed to turn colleagues, families, even places against themselves and each other (the BBC’s flagship documentary on the anniversary is called “Brexit: A Very British Civil War”). Today’s picture is actually more promising: more pro-European, yes, but also a more nuanced patchwork of opinion with a lot of common ground concerning the threats facing the country.
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14 Comments
rayyy@piefed.social · 15 pts · 48d
Sucks to be stupid.
Archimedes@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 48d
I'm not convinced that what voters want actually matters🤷
Sepia@mander.xyz · 10 pts · 48d
As an addition:
Ten years on, Brexit's economic impact is becoming clearer
aamram@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 48d
They can come closer sure, but the EU won't let them reintegrate... at least for the next 2 decades.
ramble81@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 48d
I have a feeling there’s going to be two non-starters which the EU will make non-negotiable: conversion to the Euro and freedom of movement (a.la. Schengen Zone).
I would hope if the UK wants it bad enough, they’ll understand the need to integrate, but I have a feeling there’s a large group of rejoiners who are thinking “it’ll go back to the way it was, sweetheart deals and all!”
jtrek@startrek.website · 2 pts · 48d
So at work sometimes a stupid and preventable problem will happen. We'll fix the immediate problems, and have a "retrospective" where we're supposed to talk about what went wrong, why it went wrong, and how to avoid it.
That is almost always a farce. People never learn anything and nothing substantial changes. The idiots on the team remain, and don't change. Often, a big factor is management are stupid and make bad decisions.
This feels kind of like that.
The people who pushed for brexit need to no longer be allowed to play a part. They're demonstrably stupid or malicious
fizzle@quokk.au · 2 pts · 48d
LOL.
Imagine working with a bunch of people, some are great, others less so, but there's this one guy that just relentlessly complains.
Complains about everyone else, complains about the work, complains about the money, but mostly complains that theyre treated as an equal when everyone should treat them like the CEO.
You know the rest of the story.
stormeuh@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 48d
I think you should still leave the possibility open for that guy to return, but under some strict conditions which he'll only accept if he sees the rest of us as equals. Adopting the euro should be a good start.
mbirth@lemmy.ml · -30 pts · 48d
British voters are mostly stupid and don't understand that Covid happened at the same time as Brexit. So they believe that all the bad effects from Covid are due to Brexit. Completely ignoring that other countries like France and Germany struggle in very much the same ways.
Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works · 26 pts · 48d
Here’s some free advice to avoid further embarrassment: Maybe don’t call other people idiots without having any understanding of what’s going on around you.
mbirth@lemmy.ml · -15 pts · 48d
Do YOU have an understanding of what's going on in the EU these days? How Ursula von der Leyen shielded off her floor? Have you checked the projected GDP growth of the UK vs. European countries recently? I'd say the UK is pretty well off without the EU. And they have the freedom to shape their own laws - all by themselves.
MrWildBunnycat@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 48d
We don't have any ability to influence how our laws are shaped here. The petition system is a joke, MPs ignore their constituents and we can't choose our PM. Its a constant garbage fire of a government. Honestly you're being a dick, get off your high horse
mbirth@lemmy.ml · -9 pts · 48d
And rejoining the EU would help with that in what way?
Skipcast@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 48d
lemmy.ml moment