A letter to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak

A letter to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak

Dec 2, 2022 | Bylines, News

Bremain Chair Sue Wilson MBE writes an open letter to PM Rishi Sunak for West England Bylines:

Dear Prime Minister,

Firstly, my apologies for not writing to you before to congratulate you on your new job. I just thought I’d better hang on for a few weeks to make sure your premiership had a longer shelf-life than your predecessor’s. So, having waited a month, big congrats! Even if you don’t last past the next election, as least you’ll have beaten Dizzy Lizzie’s short spell in office.

I appreciate you must have a great deal on your plate (what multi-millionaire doesn’t?) and that the job is probably a lot more difficult and demanding than you anticipated. Despite that, I hope you think it was worth any sacrifices you may have made. At least your wife hasn’t had to make any, and can always keep you in the style you’ve become accustomed to, no matter what happens in your political career.

With so much going wrong in the country it must be tough to choose where to focus or prioritise your attention and our money. Especially when you have those to the left of you, those to the right of you, and (if there are any) those to the far right of you telling what you absolutely must do, and right now!

Just this week alone I note that you have described relations with China as the end of a “golden era”. Relations with the USA also seem strained, though I’m pleased to see that you and Ursula von der Leyen are making positive noises. Do you know what would really, really improve relations with the EU? Getting rid of that nasty piece of legislation, the Protocol Bill. Though I do appreciate, that with so many nasty pieces of legislation to choose from, it must be difficult to know which bill to ditch first. With so many of them liable to remove rights from the public but likely to give more powers to yourself. I imagine there will be many sleepless nights ahead while the Tory Party gremlins mess with your head.

As a former Chancellor, I had rather expected that you’d have a better understanding of how the UK economy works, or should work. I have to admit, I’m not a fan of ‘Austerity 2.0’, but then I wasn’t a fan of ‘Austerity 1.0’ either. I would be much more inclined to give it a chance if the government hadn’t wasted so much taxpayers’ money on failed PPE contracts, a failed Test & Trace system, a so-called Festival of Brexit, on MPs pay rises and expenses and goodness only knows what else. The very fact that you are now planning to use my/our money to pay for your Christmas parties is just adding insult to grievous injury. Couldn’t your wife treat you all? After all, I assume she’ll be present.

I would like to offer, though, credit where’s it’s due and say thank you for avoiding the annoying habit your two predecessors were so fond of. That of governing by slogan. I am not aware of any Sunak-specific soundbites. I assume that means that there aren’t any. The alternative – that they are so bad as to have gone unnoticed – is hardly preferable.

With regards to how I might be of assistance to you, I understand you are still looking (though perhaps not very hard) for an Ethics Advisor. Despite the downgrading of any powers for the title holder, I’m sure I could offer some interesting, even radical, ideas on the way forward, and frankly, I could use the money! My paltry pension, even with the triple lock retained (thank you kindly) does not stretch far when everything has gotten so much more expensive. Yes, I know, it’s Covid, it’s Ukraine. But, it’s also the dreaded Brexit. Now when even the BBC are discussing widespread Brexit damage, surely it’s time politicians, especially those at the top, did likewise.

The main opposition leader is seemingly trying to be more Brexity than your lot, believing it will win him the next election. With so many Remainer MPs now converts to the Brexit cult, wouldn’t it be novel if a few Brexiter MPs changed their minds too? Not sure I should be pointing this out to you but you could turn public opinion in your favour if you changed tack by promising a return to the Single Market, the Customs Union or, heaven forfend, the EU itself. Of course, you would have the tall order of convincing the country that Tory promises are worth the manifesto they are written on, but I honestly think it’s worth a shot. Beat the opposition to it and get that growing number of Remainers on your side for a change.

I will leave you to ponder how to turn around the fate of your party. I would just like to hope that in the process, you, your cabinet and your government give some thought to turning around the fate of the country. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but SS Britannia is sinking fast and there’s a distinct lack of friendly neighbours willing to rush to our aid. I wish you every success in turning the ship around, and in your goal of returning the Conservative Party to power at some distant decade in the future.

In the meantime, try not to do as much damage as the last three residents of Number 10 have done, and give the nurses, postal workers, train drivers etc. a pay rise. You may think the country can’t afford to do it. In fact, it can’t afford not to.

Yours sincerely,

Sue Wilson MBE

Economic affairs committee take evidence from the governor of the Bank of England

Economic affairs committee take evidence from the governor of the Bank of England

Dec 1, 2022 | Bylines, News

The governor of the Bank of England talks through the big shocks to the UK economy and the risks to come, but gives no mention to Brexit, writes Bremain Chair Sue Wilson MBE for Yorkshire Bylines.

On Tuesday 29 November, the governor of the Bank of England (BoE), Andrew Bailey, gave evidence to the House of Lords economic affairs committee. The oral evidence session with the governor is an annual event and was expected to cover a number of topics, including quantitative easing, financial risks, inflation and the supply of labour, both historically and looking forward.

 

Unsurprisingly, there was little good news and lots of talk about the “scale of the external shocks that are hitting the economy”. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the list of factors affecting the UK economy did not include Brexit. In two hours of discussion and debate, not one single mention. From anyone.

 

Not a budget

While many factors, such as the war in Ukraine and the pandemic were external contributors to the current economic situation, there were domestic factors too. The most significant of these – if you ignore the government’s general mishandling of the economy, and of course, Brexit – was the disastrous autumn mini-budget.

When committee members referred to the statement as a budget, they were corrected by the governor. It was, in fact, a “fiscal event”, not a budget. Had it been a budget, the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) – the official fiscal watchdog – would have had to be involved. By labelling the budget a fiscal event, the OBR was left out of the loop completely. Bailey added that the “message that came across”, was that “we didn’t want the OBR involved”.

It would appear that the BoE, to a lesser extent, was also kept in the dark. When questioned about whether the bank had been fully informed in advance of the statement, and in particular, whether the bank had received “advance warning of… £46 billion of unfunded tax cuts”, Bailey responded, “we did not know what was going to be in the statement”.

Bailey said that while it was not always necessary to know all the “detailed measures” in advance, the bank would expect to be informed on “the economic impact” of any proposed policy. Many people had described the situation to him, he added, as “flying blind”. The BoE, for example, had had “no idea” that the government had plans to abolish the top rate of tax.

Bailey said there was no doubt in his mind “that Treasury officials told the BoE and me everything they knew”. There was no question of anything “being hidden”, he said. There was, however, a “lack of clarity”, even “between the former prime minister and the chancellor about what was going to be in the fiscal statement.” Which rather, Bailey said, “illustrates the problem”.

External shocks to the system

The governor spoke of the scale of the external factors affecting the economic outlook, describing them as a “very big shock to the UK’s real economy”. In particular, Bailey highlighted the scale of the shock from the energy crisis, which was seen as a “substantial risk” and which was “larger than any single year in the 1970”.

The governor spoke of what he regarded as the three biggest risks to the UK economy. The first of these – the energy price shock coming from Russia and Ukraine – he described as “reasonably stable” in terms of size and force. The second factor, and the earliest, was the post-Covid supply chain shock, which he said was “unwinding”. The third shock, which unlike the first two was heading “the other way”, was food, affected by both domestic and external factors.

 

The biggest story

According to Bailey, “the biggest story is the labour market”, which is “much more constrained” in Britain than elsewhere. Where other economies – such as the US or the Eurozone – had recovered to pre-Covid levels, the UK was lagging behind. However, Bailey claims that recruitment issues many companies have been facing are now gradually starting to ease with the ratio of vacancies to unemployment stabilising, albeit at a high level.

The BoE, said Bailey, has been saying for over a year that there was “a very big real income shock” coming and that the consequences of that blow need to be dealt with. It seemed to be widely accepted that this was due to a “change in the terms of trade”. The impact of the real income shock is one being felt by the public who, apparently, are failing to understand why they can’t be paid in line with inflation. The risk, said Bailey, is coming from second-hand effects – caused by “constraint in labour supply”, “wage-bargaining” and “price-setting” – which would require the BoE to further raise inflation.

Whatever our economic future holds, it seems clear that the British economy is not in a healthy state or, perhaps, in the safest of hands. While so many in Westminster fail to acknowledge a significant cause of our present economic situation, it’s difficult to see how our finances can or will improve.

During the course of the committee meeting, the governor at one point complained that “quite a bit of the commentary” regarding the British economy “pretends that Covid never happened”. That may well be the case. Yet the bank and the government continue to pretend that Brexit never happened. Thankfully, the public, and increasingly the press, are joining the dots. It would be helpful if those in charge of running the economy effectively did likewise.

 

Bremainers Ask ….. Marina Purkiss

Bremainers Ask ….. Marina Purkiss

Dec 1, 2022 | Bremainers Ask, News

Political Commentator, broadcaster and co-host of The Trawl podcast, Marina is very active on social media, with 289,500 Twitter followers. She has her own show, The Table, on BylineTV and regularly appears on the Jeremy Vine Show.

Valerie Chaplin: Thank you for your no holds barred reporting on “The Trawl” and “Bylines TV”. Do you think, if Labour wins the next election, they will change their “Make Brexit Work” stance, as so many now are realising Brexit was a terrible mistake?

Sadly I’m starting to think Labour will maintain their very hard pro-Brexit stance if they get into power. Keir Starmer has failed repeatedly to leave the door ajar for people like myself who are so-called Remainers and desperate at least for closer alignment to the EU and its single market and customs union, as well as freedom of movement. Starmer also appears to be ignoring all those people who, polls show, are starting to recognise that Brexit is a huge catastrophe for the UK, and he seems to be doing this to appease the red wall voters who voted unanimously for Brexit.

In part, I understand why. The Brexit word is like a touchpaper and he will be hammered by the right-wing press and the Tories if he shows any indication of actually going back into the EU or even just aligning the UK with the single market and customs union. That said, it’s really sad if that is the case because everyone and their dog can see that Brexit is a bad idea. The problem he’s got now is that he’s been so final in his wording about Brexit that it feels there is no more conversation to be had about it. Therefore, if Labour do get into power and do start going back on their word and decide that no, they don’t want to make Brexit work, and yes, they do want to start progressing towards closer alignment with the EU, then they’re going to look like massive liars, and people who lie to get into power, just like the Conservatives – which is dangerous and frankly depressing, given the already incredibly low trust in our politics and politicians, so it feels a bit like a no-win situation.

Helen Johnston: Brexit fans are getting harder to find, but they are still out there. What advice would you give to someone engaging with a Brexiter to try and persuade them away from the ‘dark side’?

I would say, most importantly, don’t speak to people as if they are stupid (even if you think they might be), because straight away you’ll get their back up and the argument is unwinnable. I would just ask them questions about whether their life has improved since Brexiting, whether they feel that what was promised was delivered, if it hasn’t been – why not? And if/when it is – what are they expecting?

If they go down the road of things like ‘sovereignty’, you can ask them what that really means. If they mention controlling our borders, I like to point out that that the ‘migrant crisis’ and record numbers of channel boat crossings, demonstrate that, actually, we lost control of our borders when we Brexited, when we withdrew from the Dublin Agreement, which allowed us to send migrants back if they didn’t qualify for asylum. Or you can ask them why our economic recovery is the lowest of all G7 countries – despite us all weathering the storms of Covid or the war in Ukraine. That tends to get them thinking, even if they dare not admit it.

Also, I think so many people didn’t realise how many benefits there were to being in the EU. Plus now we are seeing the cost of living crisis, we’re seeing interest rates rising, inflation soaring – now don’t get me wrong, this is being experienced the world over due to global shocks, but why is the UK faring so badly? It’s because of Brexit. Brexit isn’t the sole cause, but it has exacerbated almost everything.

Everything is in crisis now thanks to 12 years of Tory rule, but in particular interest rates, inflation, the NHS, social care, etc. – much of this down to our super tight labour market, thanks to Brexit.

And we need to reassure people we’re debating with that it’s ok – we don’t blame them. After all, they were expertly lied to, promised a Utopia, so I don’t blame these people for voting for it. But I would just say, try to wake up now and see that what you were promised is not going to be delivered. And the opportunities that they talk about as well, like deregulation, is only going to benefit the 0.01% of very rich people and very rich business owners. It’s also going to make it even harder to trade with our partners in the EU if you have no regulations.

Tony Isaac: The Tory Government seems to be running out of road with ever more toxic rhetoric against migrants and “wokery” as a last desperate tactic to stay in power. Is this the beginning of the end for the right-wing ideology behind Brexit?

Do you know what? I think it may be. I think what we are seeing now is what is left of the Tory party, the dregs if we’re honest, clutching to whatever “woke wars” they can, to try and keep people angry and divided, and to keep them in power. And the migrant crisis, or rather the Home Office crisis, as I like to call it, is a vehicle for doing that. The use of words like “invasion” by Suella Braverman was just so inflammatory, and done on purpose.

And then you’ve got, sadly, Rishi Sunak, who has said that it is one of his main priorities to fix the migration crisis. Now when you actually think about how much the migrant crisis impacts people in their day to day lives, versus the huge cost of living crisis which has been exacerbated by Brexit, which has basically been delivered by 12 years of Tory governance and austerity, why aren’t people more concerned about that? Well, because the Tory Government and the right-wing press make sure that they deflect away from this, to focus people’s energy and anger on the migrant crisis, when instead they should be focusing on the Tories.

So I think they are going to cling to this rhetoric for as long as possible to avoid a light being shone on them. But yes, I agree, they are running out of road.

Lisa Burton: I enjoyed Byline TV’s The Table with yourself Supertanskiii and Dan Hodges. Do you think there should be more room given to debating with those who have completely opposing views?

This is a tricky one, because I quite like to engage with people and try and break down their arguments. A bit like the way that James O’Brien does, and he’s very good at doing this, just by asking questions.

The problem I’ve got, which is why I’ve turned down going on channels like GB News, is because sometimes you run the risk of giving validity to someone whose argument doesn’t deserve it, when you engage with them. So, for example, you can argue about Brexit and people have got their thoughts, and you can break it down with facts and they come back at you with their “alternative facts”. But, with people like climate change deniers, or people who intentionally spout misinformation, I worry that if someone like myself were to have a public debate with them, it brings credence to their viewpoint, in that pursuit of false equivalence. So there could be a danger in actually letting them air their views, and perhaps having people believe them.

So I think it’s a really difficult question, and you have to use your own judgement to decide whether that person is worth engaging with in good faith, and could there be a good outcome? If not, it’s probably best to steer clear.

Steve Wilson: With so many followers and your willingness to speak out you must attract a lot of trolls. How do you deal with the criticism, negativity and abuse?

I tend to ignore as much as I can. Obviously, I’m human and there are some things that if I see them, they really get to me. I posted a tweet just a few hours after giving birth and was expecting some backlash… It was in response to Nicola Sturgeon saying she detests Tories, and I basically said:

“I’ve just given birth, and I’m full of the kind of drugs that make you love everyone, and I still detest the Tories.”

It was tweeted in jest and my eyes were still popping around in my skull from all the post-labour drugs as I struggled to type it! It got huge traction, but there were some very personal replies, quite horrible, suggesting I wasn’t a good mum, basically telling me I should be focusing on my baby. One person actually called me a sick woman. Because I was in a bit of a vulnerable state when I read those, it made me feel awful. But I just muted the conversation, and didn’t look back. And I think that’s a discipline that I have learned, and one needs to learn when you are on Twitter. You need to have the discipline not to engage, not to read everything, because some people are going to be horrible and they get their satisfaction from getting a reaction from you and knowing that they’ve got to you. If you don’t engage, you starve them of oxygen and eventually they lose interest, which is why I think I actually get by with very little in the way of abuse – that I notice anyway!

David Eldridge: How do you foresee the next election? When will it be, and what do you think the result will be?

Interestingly, I would like a coalition Government. My worry with a purely Labour Government is that Keir Starmer would not then feel any pressure to deliver on proportional representation. For me, this is the biggest issue, because proportional representation, that huge, desperately needed overhaul to our voting system means that we will never find ourselves in the frustrating position of being in a two-party race, which has made us so divided, and has also created such apathy in the electorate. So, for me, that is the best outcome. Whether that will be the case or not, I’m not sure.

I think the way Keir Starmer is going, especially with the finality with which he talks about never going back into the single market and customs union, never discussing freedom of movement, runs the risk of alienating lots of would-be Labour voters. And if he continues in the same vein, I think more people who feel politically homeless, who would have voted Labour, will vote for other left-wing parties, which could then end up in coalition, which is my preference.

And what would I encourage people to do, if, like me, you detest the Tories and just want them out? Well, you may need to just suck it up for now and use your vote tactically – by that I mean, on voting day just hold your nose, if you need to, and vote for the party most likely to unseat the Tories. Yes, you may hate Labour, but I can assure you, the Tories are worse. And for up-to-date guidance on who you should tactically vote for in your consistency to do just that, be sure to follow The Movement Forward on Twitter (@MVTFWD) or visit https://themovementforward.com/crisis/ 

Eyes on the prize!

“Brexit a roaring success” – have the Tories lost the plot?

“Brexit a roaring success” – have the Tories lost the plot?

Nov 26, 2022 | Bylines, News

A certain kind of desperation is taking hold in Conservative ranks as Brexit delusions begin to crumble in the face of reality, writes Bremain Chair Sue Wilson MBE for Yorkshire Bylines.

Anyone following British politics over recent months and years will no doubt have questioned the reliability of many political statements. You may even have thought you were being lied to, or at the very least that some politicians – especially those supporting Brexit – were lying to themselves.

Whether Westminster rhetoric has caused you to despair or made you angry, it will likely have made you question the sanity of some MPs, some Cabinet Ministers, or even some political parties. The latest bordering-on-bonkers nonsense is unlikely to cause any change in that opinion.

Brexit: A roaring success

If you are looking for fully-fledged governmental delusion, then right-wing Tory Brexit supporters are a good place to start. Stand up, former Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and former advisory member of the Leave Means Leave board, Peter Bone.

The Member for Wellingborough has previously described government plans to introduce same-sex marriage as “completely nuts”; has voted to lower the time limit for abortions to 12 weeks; is in favour of the death penalty and conscription; is opposed to a national minimum wage and was described as Britain’s “meanest boss” by the Daily Mirror in 1995. So, not exactly what you might call a leftie, or even a centrist.

Bone’s latest daft idea – in the face of public opinion and ample evidence of Brexit damage – is a parliamentary debate led by the Chancellor. The title? “Brexit: a roaring success”. Now it’s entirely possible that Bone is deluded enough to believe Brexit has been a hit. It’s even possible that former PM candidate, Penny Mordaunt, really does believe that he’s ”absolutely right”. What isn’t credible is that they think the public, or perhaps even parliament, are on the same page. The Tories may see the funny side of Bone’s ‘joke’. Those suffering the effects of a Covid, Ukraine and, yes, Brexit induced cost-of-living crisis, may not.

 

Brexit isn’t failing

For more Brexiter nonsense, you rarely need to look any further than the Rt. Hon. Lord Frost of Allenton PC CMG. Senior Fellow of right-wing think tank, Policy Exchange. Frost is a former Brexit negotiator, former diplomat (yes, honestly), former Cabinet Minister (briefly) and former special advisor to Foreign Secretary as was, Boris Johnson. Oh, and former Remainer. Now a staunch Brexiter, Frost displays the zeal of a true convert.

Delusional statements on Brexit are not new from Frost, and he’s never been shy about imparting his bonkers brand of wisdom to anyone who will listen (mostly Telegraph readers). Often aiming his counsel at the PM and/or the government, he has always been keen to impart advice on how to manage (his version of) Brexit.

Back in April, Frost warned the government to “Beware” (the threat?) that “Remainers are regrouping”. Then in May, he was advocating for the scrapping of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the very same deal that he & Boris Johnson had negotiated. Under duress, it would seem, or at least not in good faith.

Yet again, he is now warning that the enemies the government needs to watch out for are pro-Europeans. Remainers are, apparently, campaigning “to return the UK to the orbit of Brussels” but, are basing our plans on ”a fallacy”. According to Frost, “Brexit isn’t failing”. Or as Bone put it, Brexit is a “roaring success”.

I’m not sure where Frost gets his – for want of a better word – “intelligence” from, but it clearly isn’t from the OBR, the Bank of England or from anywhere but the most-right wing of media.

 

Losing their sanity

With the latest immigration figures disproving the Brexit myth of “taking back control of our borders”, the government desperately needed a new plan that would attempt to control numbers. Enter stage right Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak with the latest wild idea. A suggestion so inappropriate as to have had many – not least former Tory MP, David Gauke – questioning the sanity of his former party.

The latest government target, in the battle to reduce immigration, is foreign students. With net migration climbing to a record half a million plus, Sunak is considering putting up barriers to reduce the number of foreign students studying in the UK. Those barriers could include a crackdown on “low quality” degrees, restricting admissions to top universities and preventing foreign students from bringing dependents to the UK.

The plan, which is likely to have the support of the Home Secretary, could meet with resistance in Whitehall, however. The Department of Education will likely raise concerns about the potential impact on university funding, especially as foreign students pay considerably more for their university placements than UK nationals.

Former EU Brexit negotiator & MEP, Guy Verhofstadt, also drew attention to the impact on our country’s future. “Students are the last thing you want to ban”, he tweeted. “Everyone gets richer when talent and ideas travel across borders”. Not that we’d expect any politician, or party, that has swallowed the Brexit Kool-Aid to welcome any talent or ideas that “travel across borders.

No joking matter

British politics has changed so much over the last six years, in ways we never believed possible. Since the run-up to the Brexit referendum in 2016, we have witnessed a more divisive, mendacious and toxic discourse. A government that increasingly demands more power and less scrutiny, and has taken this country – and the Tory party – so far-right that it’s increasingly difficult to use the word democracy to describe our politics.

The sheer madness of some of the ideas and bills that this government has put forward would be hysterically funny if it weren’t so damned scary. Thankfully, the country, and increasingly the mainstream media, are waking up from their mass hysteria. The rising number of Tory MPs stepping down at the next general election would suggest that the party itself is waking up too. Well, some of them anyway.

So, have the government finally lost the plot? The rest of the world certainly thinks so, and increasingly, so does the voting public. Brexit has already cost four Prime Ministers their jobs. The Tory Party’s sanity looks set to be another Brexit casualty. We can only hope that they won’t be replaced by another kind of Brexit lunacy. It’s time, surely, for some common sense, realism and honesty.

The Brexit joke wasn’t funny in 2016. And it certainly isn’t funny now.

Brexit is not the “will of the people”

Brexit is not the “will of the people”

Nov 21, 2022 | Bylines, News

Brexit is in no one’s best interests. It’s time the politicians, like the British public, started to say so, out loud and in public, writes Bremain Chair Sue Wilson MBE for Yorkshire Bylines.

Back in the day when Theresa May was in charge of Brexit and the country, government by soundbite was all the rage. We had the meaningless “Brexit means Brexit” and the fatuous “strong and stable”, but none were so pervasive as the much relied upon “will of the people”.

 

The will of the people

It was the number one get-out-of-jail-free card for the government. Brexit was not the choice of the government, they said, but the democratic choice of the British voting public. It was defined as the will of the majority, and therefore it was the government’s duty to deliver it. Or at least to try.

Leaving aside the fact that only 17 million people voted for Brexit out of an eligible voting population of around 46 million, the claim that the referendum vote showed a clear majority in favour of leaving the EU was always a stretch. Add to that the fact that Leave won by such a small margin, and the lie that Brexit was the ‘will of the people’ was stretched to breaking point.

 

The “wrong decision”

Six and a half long years on from the referendum, with the impacts of Brexit being widely felt, the British public’s view of Brexit is rather different. ‘Project fear’ – which warned of the dangers of severing ties with our closest and largest trading partner – has become ‘project reality’. The lies of the Leave campaign have been revealed and the Brexit that was promised has been exposed as an illusion.

The majority of the British public – finally – have opened their eyes to the truth. In a recent YouGov poll, 56% now believe it was the ‘wrong decision to vote to leave the European Union’. Not only is that the highest percentage to date, but the gap between those that believe it was wrong and those that still support Brexit has widened to 24% – another record.

It’s not just Remainers saying that Brexit was wrong either. One in five people who voted for Brexit “now think it was the wrong decision” and only 70% – another record – believing they made the right decision in 2016.

 

Mounting evidence

Despite the government’s bare-faced attempts to hide the truth, or misdirect blame, the evidence of Brexit damage is piling up. Inflation – at 11.1% – is at a 41-year high, the country is in recession and the UK economy is going backwards. Where other countries that suffered economic downturns, due to Covid and the Ukraine war, are now recovering, the UK is not. In fact, the UK is the only G7 country where GDP is now lower that it was before the pandemic.

The Office for Budgetary Responsibility, sponsored by HM Treasury, has predicted a decline of 1.4% in GDP for 2023 – the “sharpest decline in Europe”. But don’t expect the government to accept that any of the UK’s economic problems are down to Brexit, or their own terrible mismanagement. Instead, you’ll hear references to causes outside of their control. Or as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt claimed in his Autumn statement, the blame lies with “unprecedented global headwinds”. The public don’t seem to believe that.

Time for politicians to start listening

It might suit the government to fail to accept the impact of Brexit. What is increasingly hard to justify though, is the Labour Party’s unwillingness to hold the government to account for it. That Labour would prefer to leave a toxic Brexit in the hands of the Conservatives is understandable. Their focus is on winning the next election, and reclaiming lost voters in red wall seats. But with such a demanding lead in the polls, the Tories currently so unpopular and shifting public opinion re Brexit, that Labour policy seems increasingly ill-advised.

With the shift in public opinion away from Brexit and back towards closer ties with Europe, it’s high time the government started listening. Brexit is not the will of the British people. It probably never was. It was, however, the will of an extremist right-wing cult in the Tory party and an attempt by David Cameron to prevent the party tearing itself apart.

As with almost everything else this government has touched since 2016, Brexit has been a very expensive, divisive, damaging and ultimately unsuccessful project. If the last six years have proved anything it’s that the government never cared for anyone’s best interests but their own. Brexit is in no one’s best interests. It’s time the politicians, like the British public, started to say so, out loud and in public.