Ten years after the Brexit referendum, Zoe Williams argues that repeated claims about the vote and its consequences have worn down those who opposed leaving the European Union. She points to the portrayal of 52% as an overwhelming mandate, the referendum as an expression of pure democracy and Brexit as the beginning of new prosperity as examples of arguments she considers misleading.
Williams says the political debate may be shifting after Andy Burnham reopened discussion about the UK’s relationship with Europe, although she cautions that this does not mean the country is close to reversing course. She adds that Brexit supporters have largely abandoned promises of extraordinary economic gains and rarely highlight the control supposedly recovered from EU membership.
Instead, she says opponents of closer European ties now focus on divisions among remain supporters. Those divisions include different priorities such as restoring freedom of movement for young people, rebuilding trade with the UK’s largest nearby market, strengthening cooperation on security and defence, and coordinating responses to climate change.
Williams rejects the idea that these interests would inevitably pull the remain coalition apart. She argues that the different objectives can reinforce one another and that supporters of closer cooperation share a broad desire for collective action with countries that hold similar values.
She also dismisses the argument that turmoil across Europe is a reason for Britain to maintain its distance. In her view, the cost-of-living crisis, wars, the effects of the financial crash and austerity, and housing problems affect countries across the continent. Keeping Britain separate, she argues, cannot shield it from the social and economic conditions behind that unrest.
The columnist acknowledges that political predictions are unreliable and that weak arguments can endure. Even so, she describes the latest case against closer European cooperation as unconvincing and maintains that hoping for a better relationship with the EU remains legitimate.
Sources: The Guardian Politics.