Reopening Brexit debate would bring ‘turmoil’, says Keir Starmer

I’m a Remainer, but at this stage I’m of the view we should just get on with it and try to give it a chance.

Unfortunately there’s just been too much shit happening since we left to actually judge Brexit by itself, for better or worse – COVID, war, etc.

Yes, I would have loved to have stayed in the EU. But apparently I’m in the minority, so I’ll just have to make the best of a situation I didn’t vote for.

Reopening the Brexit debate requires a strong leader with confidence in what he says and believes. Keir Starmer will not be that leader.

I was a remainer and I’m pro rejoining but I think we’re looking at a 20 year timescale. There is a polling majority for rejoining but it’s still such a devisive and complicated issue that it will paralyse our entire political apparatus for years, and the country is so badly screwed up that we can’t afford that. 

We also need to recognise that we won’t be rejoining on the terms we had, the UK had preferential clauses and opt outs that there is no hope in hell of us getting back. It would also be completely reasonable for the EU to request some legal assurance that we won’t attempt to leave again next time the Daily Mail gets bored. Public opinion about the reality of rejoining is likely to be different to public opinion about what people are imagining it would look like.

It’s sensible for Starmer to take this position. It means that we can quietly renegotiate things like border processes and Erasmus and make genuine practical improvements without it degenerating into a huge argument.

I’d love for Britain to rejoin the EU but there are a couple problems in doing so.

We will never get the same cushy deal we enjoyed before, we’d have to adopt the Euro as currency which would cause divisions in an already fragile political landscape.

Also rejoining the EU itself would infuriate a large percentage of the UK thus risking the population leaning heavily towards the far-right.

At least once the boomers eventually pass, our generation can vote to re-enter. What a waste of time, still talking about Brexit all because of stupid propaganda we left in the first place and the dickhead David Cameron ordering a referendum and then resigning straight after. Twat.

So why did he suggest a second referendum when Corbyn had not made it policy

As much as brexit was a massive mistake, it would be an even bigger mistake to make it the dividing topic of the election. Whether we like it or not, the leave side “won” the public opinion on brexit, and if you attempt to re fight that battle all that will happen is that they will bring out the same play book and win the debate again.

There was a post here a few days ago about a guitar maker who wanted better and faster trade connections with Europe (“like we used to have”) but didn’t want to re-enter the single market. This suggests to me that a lot of the European/brexit adjacent terms (free movement, single market, Schengen etc) have lost all literal meaning to most people, and have become kind of meaningless terms to be used as a substitute for something scary/ bad by the brexiteers.

I think if starmer wants to undo the damage of brexit, the best way is to do it is not talk about it in the vocabulary of brexit, but just in direct terms. Instead of saying “I want to re-enter the single market” you say “I want to renegotiate our trade deal with Europe, to facilitate greater trade and remove barriers with the continent”. Instead of saying “I want to allow free movement with Europe” you say “I want to provide British citizens with greater access to live and work in Europe”.

But Brexit itself has brought turmoil, seems insane not to question it

Yer it is too be expected, it will take a generational shift to happen first (I think 10 years), but in the mean time there can be a warming of relations with the EU and doing everything short of re-integration.

And yet whenever I call Starmer a Brexiter, I get mass downvoted.