Printed in the Whitehaven News on 21st may 2025 and the Times and Star 22nd May 2025
It didn’t take long, did it? Just ten months in, and the great Brexit reversal has begun. As on so many other issues, our Rejoiner-in-Chief tells everyone what he thinks they want to hear before going on to deliver the opposite.
He spent the Brexit years as Shadow Brexit Secretary doing everything he could to frustrate our leaving the European Union. And while he appears prepared to ditch his principles on almost every issue, not on this it would seem! We knew it would come, but had no idea it would start this big, or so soon.
Unlike when Starmer was trying to reverse Brexit, collaborating with the EU to scupper our negotiations, Britain is in a very strong negotiating position. Yet from the outcome, and from the defeatist attitude of the cabinet throughout, you’d think the opposite.
Giving away our fishing rights until 2038 is a betrayal of our coastal communities; An agreement on ‘dynamic alignment’ with EU rules in various sectors might not only put at risk some of our post-Brexit trade deals, but more importantly means we’re a rule-taker with no say in those rules – governed by email from Brussels and thrown back into the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice; And a return to freedom of movement for tens of millions of EU nationals.
Let’s be clear – I’m happy to be able to use e-gates on my holidays again, the removal of which was part of a ‘punishment beating’ by some individual countries (not EU-wide) for daring to stand up and leave the EU. But not at the cost of our entire fishing industry. Not at the cost of ceding our sovereignty to a European court. And not at the cost of further huge, unskilled migration.
And while the government will be at pains to deny the return of freedom of movement, it’s worth remembering that illegal immigration through the overstaying of visas is estimated to be much higher annually than the number crossing the channel in small boats.
This government have started trying to talk a good game on immigration -appearing to belatedly recognise the impact of uncontrolled low-skilled migration, and talking about Rwanda-style schemes (but only after multiple attempts at claiming asylum) despite scrapping the original Rwanda deterrent. But that doesn’t fit, for example, with using the India trade deal to make it cheaper for Indian companies to bring Indian workers to the UK, than it is to hire UK workers.
But there is some good news! It’s reported that the government are about to reverse their decision on the Winter Fuel Allowance, unfortunately one winter too late for many. They ignored warnings from all sides, including some of their own. Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, even told us reversing the £1.9bn cut would cause a run on the pound.
Our local MPs done Starmer’s bidding without question, sending hundreds of letters and emails to constituents defending the attack on pensioners, setting out the damage that reversal would do to the economy. How will they now spin this screeching U-turn?
‘To govern is to choose’ is a line often used, and the responsibility of a backbench MP on the government benches is to set, or change, the course of government when those choices fail their constituents. Unfortunately, our current representatives have put career before constituents at every turn. Surely there is a limit to how many times they allow this disastrous government to cover their faces in egg?
