And people are right, it really is a mess. But there are no easy solutions, and we can’t just ignore the result of the 2016 Referendum if we claim to be democrats.
The risks to people of a no-deal Brexit have always been known. A major study by the CBI, the industrial group, showed that leaving with no deal would be much worse for the country’s economy than leaving with a deal.
Now we’re seeing some of the warnings come true. The economy shrank this year for the first time since the big recession. And the pound has slumped. That will push up the price of imported goods. And it’s especially hard just now on people taking holidays abroad because it’s pushed all their costs up.
For me, people come first. Household incomes must be protected and businesses have to be able to function properly. Although the majority in Northampton voted to leave the EU, people have recently been telling me of their concerns about a no-deal Brexit. Businesses are worried that just in time deliveries of essential items won’t be possible and that tariff barriers will push prices up.
Because there are always rules to international trade and relations. if we don’t want to operate to the EU’s rules and pull out, we then have to operate to the rules of the rest of the world – the so-called WTO rules.
Even people who voted leave in the referendum are saying things have changed in three years, and their views are changing too.
The last Tory Prime Minister Theresa May was a tragedy for the country. She should have worked with the majority of MPs for a Brexit deal. Instead she pandered to the Brexiteer extremists who were never going to be satisfied. The result was three years of dither and delay that made us look weak and ridiculous.
The new Tory Prime Minister will be a disaster for the country if he crashes us out of Europe with no deal. His actions will have nothing to do with the national well-being, and everything to do with protecting his position.
There’s no amount of gimmicky policy initiatives that can cover up the damage being done to our country.
Labour’s policy has been to respect the results of the referendum. But the three years of Tory dithering and time-wasting have changed things. Any decision to leave the EU needs to go back to the people. We need to rebuild our political system with confidence and trust. And we shouldn’t wreck the well-being and businesses of people here by leaving with no-deal.
Labour’s aim was for a Brexit that provided us with:
A new customs union with an active industrial strategy to create manufacturing jobs in areas that have long been forgotten by the Tories.
A strong relationship with the single market to boost our economy, with working people, not big corporations, getting the benefits.
Protection for worker and consumer rights. So yes to job security and pay. And no to chlorinated chickens.
