Despite Brexit’s clear, ongoing failures, some Brexiteers and their cheerleading press are still clinging to the myth of its success, accusing the so-called ‘Rejoiner elite’ of plotting a return to Brussels.
Despite Brexit’s clear, ongoing failures, some Brexiteers and their cheerleading press are still clinging to the myth of its success, accusing the so-called ‘Rejoiner elite’ of plotting a return to Brussels.
Leading the charge is the outspoken Brexiteer Quentin Letts, the Daily Mail’s provocative political diarist, who ran a headline this week entitled: ‘Five years after we left the EU, the Rejoiner elite is STILL trying to drag us back to Brussels. But Brexit HAS been a success – and here’s why….’
Known for his inflammatory opinions and books like Patronising Bastards: How the Elites Betrayed Britain, Letts thrives on controversy. A 2019 tweet about his skiing holiday is a prime example, where he clumsily compared Switzerland’s soft EU border to the Northern Ireland border post-Brexit. What he conveniently overlooked was that Switzerland is part of the Schengen Area, where free movement exists between 26 European states.
As for the term ‘Rejoiner elite,’ that’s a particularly rich label, as ‘Rejoiners’ are anything but elite.
Take Peter Corr, a former lorry driver and soldier from Derbyshire, who now leads the National Rejoin March. Corr lost his job due to Brexit, and like thousands of others, he’s fighting against the broken promises of the referendum campaign.
I reluctantly subscribed to the Mail just to see how Letts deems Brexit a success. His argument is heavy on sarcasm, especially over Starmer’s planned attendance at an EU summit in Brussels. Letts mocks this as a humiliating defeat for Brexiteers, claiming the EU will “crow” about Britain’s “return” and dismissing Starmer’s presence as a blow to national pride.
The author touches on the UK economy, but his analysis is shallow. He mentions Rachel Reeves’s budget while ignoring the far more controversial and damaging one under Liz Truss. His claim that the UK is more “harmonious” than much of Europe is also dubious, overlooking the deep divisions caused by Brexit and continued high immigration.
Letts even gloats about how Britain can now set its own contactless payments limit of £100 instead of having to accept the EU’s 50-euro limit – talk about scraping the barrel!
Such panic comes after Starmer and Reeves both signalled that the UK could sign up to a pan-European customs area. Reeves said she would be “happy” to look at the proposals raised by the EU’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic.
But Downing Street has clarified that such a move would not cross any “red line.”
Needless to say, the ‘Brexpress’ jumped on the panic, with a headline reading: “Outrage as shameless Keir Starmer plot to unpick Brexit – ‘Brits are being betrayed!’
The article quotes Priti Patel accusing Starmer of being “hellbent on “dragging” us back in “through the back door” and warns of Labour pursuing with “ideological gusto their determined plan to reverse our Brexit freedoms.”
Amid the right-wing media excitement, Starmer has been accused of forming an EU “surrender squad” to reverse Brexit, with up to 100 civil servants allegedly tasked with resetting the UK’s relationship with Brussels. These warnings have been building for weeks. In December, the Sun ran a headline suggesting “Brexit wrecker” Starmer was setting up a “Surrender Squad” to dismantle Brexit. The piece quoted Lord Frost, former Brexit negotiator, who warned that this reset could lead to the UK losing control of its laws and regulations.
But in a touch of irony, this week, the likes of GB News were forced to eat humble pie, as Lord Frost, the architect of Britain’s Brexit deal, rejected claims that joining the EU’s PEM customs scheme would undermine Brexit.
“Lord Frost says joining EU customs deal would NOT be anti-Brexit in surprising intervention,” headlined the right-wing channel.
But perhaps the real irony is that, in reality, us ‘elite Rejoiners’ are growing frustrated, wishing Starmer will take bolder steps with his EU reset. A damning report to mark the fifth anniversary of Brexit from UK in a Changing Europe highlights that EU policy remains ‘peripheral’ to Starmer’s government, and notably, the chancellor’s October budget didn’t mention Brexit’s impact once.
Can you imagine if Starmer’s reset wasn’t so cautious and actually tackled the real damage of Brexit?
At least then, the right-wing press might have a genuine reason to panic.
Image credit: X screen grab
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That’s why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward’s work.
We still need another 117 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.
