Ruth Woodhouse : You recently referred to the “butterfly effect” and “small acts of resistance” with regard to addressing current ills. In practical terms, how do we employ this approach to fight the ever-rising tide of xenophobia?

You can never know when a small act of resistance makes a substantial difference. My father in 1939 had to get across two borders with no papers. A man with a milk cart and horse, with no reason to help a young stranger, just a small act of grace, decided to risk letting him hide in his cart and got him across one of them. At another he traded a blind eye from a border guard for his watch. Against all odds, he managed to get onto one of the last Kindertransport as a steward, even though officially the kids were unaccompanied. He described his escape to England as “a series of small miracles.” There is no one right or wrong way to unknowingly perform a small miracle. I think perhaps the article you are referring to was about the almost Herculean effort it sometimes takes to not embarrass or humiliate someone with opposing views to you in social media, which tends to amplify biases to create conflict rather than reduce it. Staying true to principles whilst not engaging ego, when addressing someone who might simply be uninformed rather than a card-carrying arsehole who tests patience, is not a trivial thing to hold to. I feel a small sense of failure, not victory, if I have to resort to blocking someone. The resistance there is not to amplify the bias the platform relies on for stickiness but still to insist that truth matters. You can never know the through effect of one thoughtful act or one thoughtful reply. 

Valerie Chaplin : Do you think the UK should rejoin the EU and stop pandering to Trump?

There is a lot to unpack here. The man in Dublin asked for directions who started his reply by saying “Well I wouldn’t start from here” knew a lot.

I would of course prefer that we’d never left. Rejoining is extremely complex and would require a series of circumstances in all 27 member countries. The EU now holds a substantially smaller percentage of global trade than it did ten years ago. If the UK were to rejoin it would boost that share by three or four percent and bring the EU within striking distance of matching the US for trade, which is making its own trading position more difficult by Trump’s tariffs and general boorishness on the world stage. There are many compelling arguments for the UK to return to the fold and none from the UK’s perspective for not doing it. 

Historically, not pandering to US Presidents as a UK PM would have been close to unthinkable. Churchill certainly had to, and Blair destroyed his own reputation when siding with Bush Jnr over the so-called “old Europe” that elected not to illegally invade Iraq. It’s not hard to imagine the Daily Mail headline: “Blair destroys the special relationship and our nuclear umbrella.” Starmer is very short on good options too, but yes, in my view, a principled refusal to pander to what looks very much like 21st Century fascism seems necessary. However, he has to consider how best to serve the national interest as he sees fit. I think it’s become very difficult to say that “pandering” is viable any longer. A closer look at Canada’s PM, Carney’s workaround AND realigning with the EU as much as possible would seem existential for both Starmer and the UK. 

Steve Wilson : Do you believe Reform have a realistic chance of forming the next government?

Reform is a political party with all its roots in weaponising xenophobia, racism and fear of immigration. They are currently trying to pretend that, rather than the extreme far-right wrecking ball Farage and Faragism has always been, they represent the new centre-right. They don’t, but it’s a public relations adjustment that is working well for them. Currently polling close to 30% across the country, they are certainly a serious political threat to liberal democracy. They would replicate much of what the MAGA movement has done in Minneapolis. 

At present, with our first-past-the-post electoral system, they would be unlikely to procure enough seats to win outright – but they could conceivably still, with alliances, form a government. It is more likely that the Liberal Democrats would hold their noses and ally with Labour to prevent them, but Hitler seized power, in large measure, through the ballot box and then absolute power thereafter. To me, Farage is a substantial risk and all legal efforts should be taken to keep him away from the levers of power while there is still sand in the hourglass. 

Juliet Lodge : What can we and musicians do together to advance understanding of Europe?

Musicians in the main have always been good at uniting diverse groups of people. Audiences in the main are little different country to country… some understand lyrics better than others but the transformative experience of “the church of Bruce”, for example, with Bruce Springsteen is well known. Peter Gabriel with Womad was famous for bringing global musicians onto one stage. 

I once realised when making an album in the Netherlands that we unintentionally had about eight different nationalities working together in the same room: that’s just how music innately is… it builds bridges, not walls. Brexit has committed a terrible act of cultural vandalism to this effect and, yes, cross-cultural resistance to being defined and contained by mere borders has always been foundational to music and its alchemical soft power. To restore freedom of movement and friction-free trade in Europe would be an absolute good. 

Anon : Do Labour stand any chance of turning things around and winning the next election, with or without Starmer?

Labour have inherited a chess board where the odds of winning a second term are difficult but not impossible. Sometimes, even with a great player, a game is objectively lost because only bad moves are left. It’s hard to say if that’s the case yet — but they do need to stop making any more blunders. No Government can win an election polling at 20%. They will ultimately be judged on their record and on living standards of the many. A week is a long time in politics. It’s their power to lose. 

Lisa Burton : If you could remove one barrier Brexit created for musicians tomorrow, what would it be?

One measure wouldn’t be enough. We need freedom of movement first and foremost but friction-free trade too. The loss of our European passports was probably the biggest gut punch for professional musicians in the UK – but touring is goods and services – people, equipment and merch have to freely travel too. A tour of 9 or 10 countries in Europe used to be no harder than a tour of 10 cities in Britain. Now it’s almost unimaginably complex – and beyond the means of small and medium-sized performers. Tinkering is welcome, but fundamentally rejoining is the only realistic fix. But political allegiances shift all the time – we’ll have to see what opportunities can be found and take them if presented. 

David Eldridge : Do you think McSweeney’s resignation will allow Starmer to remain in office for longer or will it hasten his departure?

 It’s likely a useful bloodletting. McSweeney fell on his sword (or was pushed onto it) over the Peter Mandelson scandal. That hasn’t fully played out yet. However weak Labour look – the right are fracturing worse. What we need are unifying alliances to keep the far right out of the mainstream where they are currently building strongholds. We live in “interesting times” of instability, when small changes can have powerful effects. We need to have a care that our solitary nudges aren’t misjudged. 

Anon : Pro-Europeans seem split between those wanting to rejoin the EU tomorrow and those who believe it will take a generation at least. What’s your best guess re the likely timeframe of a return to the EU?

I don’t doubt that we shouldn’t have left. I don’t doubt that we need a real public inquiry into Brexit to investigate how dark money, foreign malign influence, and Cambridge Analytica-style tactics of targeting persuadables tipped the scales on the referendum vote of 2016 before we can honestly address the size and scale of the hole under the waterline. Bilge pumps aren’t the answer. I think the timescale is very hard to know. 

In 1988 the Soviet Union was a fact as solid as the USA. By 1989 it was over, in the desire of Germany to reunify and tear down the wall. We are all Europeans… some are just taking a little longer to finally realise and recognise it. It feels like an immensity to imagine but, when a dam begins to leak, pretty soon the innate pressure opens the river up to its natural state again. 

We asked 6 former Bremainers Ask contributors to tell us their hopes and fears for the new year. In December, we heard from Gina Miller, Zoe Gardner and Naomi Smith. Now it’s the men’s turn …….

Anand Menon – Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs, Director of UK in a Changing Europe

Hopes for 2026 must, above all, be for those outside our country facing war and consequent unspeakable hardship. For all the problems we have in the United Kingdom, they are nothing to the fear and uncertainty of those facing domestic unrest or foreign interference.

And talking of international politics, this remains the potential deus ex machina that could render everything I say below ridiculous. A rupture with the Americans – and at the time of writing Europeans are figuring out how to respond to the threat of tariffs linked to the situation over Greenland – would change everything and make a rethink of relations with the EU imperative.

But to turn back to the situation at home, I must risk annoying readers by saying ambitious new plans intended to tighten links with the European Union are not a priority. This is for several reasons. One, I’m not convinced that there is any such scheme that is acceptable to both sides. Pick and mix alignment, as Keir Starmer seems to want (and on which some of the recent economic modelling we’ve heard so much about has been based), will doubtless be rejected by the EU.

Equally, rejoining the single market isn’t something the UK Government is willing to consider. Perhaps a case could be made for freedom of movement in a context of rapidly falling legal immigration (it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that some might make the case based on the preferability of European versus ‘other’ kinds of immigrants). Be that as it may, a Government that has struggled so hard to come to terms with the idea of a youth mobility scheme is not one that is about to make that case.

So, we are left with the contents of the ‘reset’ to date. These are far from trivial. But it remains to be seen whether potentially contentious talks over not only youth mobility but also the extent of alignment necessary for SPS and ETS deals can get over the line. And of course, we’ve got to hope that the more militant member states see sense over SAFE, at a moment when Europeans need to work together to improve their military capabilities more than ever.

As for the rest, even if this government, potentially under a new leader, decides to go further and faster, negotiations will take time, and the EU has shown no signs of a willingness to do the UK any favours. Talks will be tough and, particularly as the EU begins to negotiate its 7-year financial settlement, any deal will doubtless carry a hefty price tag. Not only this, but any benefits will likely not materialize for some time – certainly not ahead of the next General Election in 2029.

Rather, the focus for the next year must be on much needed domestic reform. It is still not too late for this moderate centre-left government with its whopping majority to address at least one of the severe problems – social care, over centralization, a regressive and growth-unfriendly tax system, the lack of adequate taxation of wealth (particularly property) to name but a few – that have dogged us for so long.

Now clearly, it is not too much to expect that our government should be able to walk and chew gum simultaneously. That is to say, there’s no reason why an ambitious domestic reform agenda should not be accompanied by equally energetic attempts to reinforce links with EU partners. My point here, however, is that, in terms of domestic politics at least, and with the proviso that Donald Trump may well change all that, the emphasis should be on the former rather than the latter.

The collapse of the political centre in the UK is the single greatest threat that faces our country domestically. Preventing that will involve not only showing genuine improvement in the issues the public cares about – notably the cost of living and the state of the NHS – but also addressing the structural barriers that have led to such anaemic economic progress for so long. The government’s priority should be to get its act together and come up with an agenda that genuinely fosters growth and addresses the long-term sapping of faith in politics that has afflicted us for so long. Focusing on the ‘reset’ is simply not the best way to do this.

David Henig – Leading authority on UK trade policy post Brexit

International rules, cooperation, and trade are under evident strain from a US President increasingly seeing his role as extortion. In this situation survival with limited damage becomes the first and in some ways only priority for countries across Europe who have been deeply allied if never entirely aligned with the US for 80 years. Overly excitable commentary about standing up to or jettisoning the US can best be seen as more attention-seeking than serious short-term politics.

Hope number one, then, is that this too will pass, that Trump’s powers will wane as mid-term elections approach, even if his ability to damage all of us remains worryingly high. There are some positive signs, trade has held up far better than many expected, and Ukraine has not been forced to concede to an invasion, close though both of these have seemed at times. US economic coercion seeking to change UK and EU regulations in return for lower tariffs is going to continue though, and governments need to continue what seems the right approach of ducking and weaving, however inelegant this may look.

Sensationalism is unfortunately the dominating operating model of European politics and media. This weakens the ability to respond to a world order clearly changing even before this US administration doubled down on its mobster mentality. Hoping this will change is sadly more ambitious than the idea of surviving Trump, but it would be nice if we saw more writers dealing with the world that is, rather than succumbing to the many alternatives including misplaced nostalgia, overegged terror, or simplistic immediate solutions.

Or perhaps I’m still scarred by a former commissioning editor for a respected political magazine telling me that there’s no market for serious policy analysis. Suffice to say I didn’t agree.

This then leaves to last the substance of how the UK and EU should be building an ongoing response to a world in which our role is diminishing. In broad terms there are well known answers which involve deepening partnerships in support of our values and using these, plus our continued economic strengths, to maintain relevance. Equally obvious are the obstacles that include the ongoing strength of national populism particularly destructive to the centre-right of politics, a related belief that traditional manufacturing or farming should be the priority, and leaders unable to convince their way through a complex policy landscape of multiple, often conflicting objectives and stakeholders.

Ideally, we would see a revival of politics as the method by which tough decisions are debated and made rather than pretended away. This would mean for example that those wanting closer UK-EU relations stop talking about a Customs Union as the latest simplism and address the key issues of contribution, shared vision, and movement of people. Or that counterparts in the EU try to move on from the scars of divorce and understand this relationship is not going away.

I’m neither particularly confident nor in a great position to help as a non-politician. Hopefully some of my work may help a little.

Peter Corr – Director and Founder of National Rejoin March

Going into 2026, I feel like a lot of people do: tired, frustrated, and still somehow stubbornly hopeful. Which is probably the most British political mood there is. Politics isn’t some abstract thing anymore. It’s in your food bill, your heating bill, and that quiet sense that things just don’t work as well as they used to — but we’re all expected to pretend this is fine.

In the UK, Brexit is no longer the shouting match it once was. It’s worse than that. It’s background noise. A constant drag. Less trade, less influence, less opportunity — and a political class that mostly wants to stop talking about it and move on. My fear is that we let them. That we quietly accept a smaller, poorer, more isolated country because reversing a bad decision would apparently hurt a few egos.

What gives me hope is that people aren’t buying it like they used to. The slogans wore off. Real life kicked in. And once people notice that the “sunlit uplands” look suspiciously like a lay-by off the hard shoulder, it’s hard to unsee it.

That’s why the Rejoin Ramble matters so much to me. Walking from London to Brussels isn’t about nostalgia or waving flags for the sake of it. It’s about saying, plainly and physically, that millions of people in the UK still believe cooperation works better than isolation. Delivering messages of hope to the EU from pro-Europeans here is a reminder that Brexit didn’t magically change who we are or where we belong. You don’t walk hundreds of miles unless you really mean it.

And then there’s the National Rejoin March in London on Saturday 20 June. I want it to be the biggest yet — and not just louder, but smarter. Confident. A movement that’s done apologising for existing. One that says: we were right to question this, and we’re right to want better.

Beyond the UK, the world feels… unstable, to put it politely. Trump-style politics rumbling back, complete with ego, grievance, and the sort of ideas you’d expect after three drinks — like casually talking about buying Greenland. It’d be funny if it wasn’t backed by real power and real consequences. My fear is that spectacle replaces seriousness again, and everyone else pays the price.

And then there’s Ukraine. A war that shouldn’t need explaining anymore. My hope for 2026 is simple: that Ukraine survives free and intact, and that Europe doesn’t lose its nerve. My fear is fatigue. That people confuse being tired of hearing about a war with the war somehow being over.

So yes, I’m angry. And worried. But I’m also hopeful, because hope isn’t passive. It’s walking, marching, organising, arguing, and refusing to shut up when you’re told it’s time to “move on”.

If 2026 is going to matter, I want it to be the year we stop whispering and start saying it clearly: Britain can do better. Europe matters. And together still beats going it alone.