Ten years on from the Brexit referendum, Britain’s relationship with the EU remains one of the country’s most divisive political issues.
Readers responding to the launch of The Independent’s Europe: The Way Back campaign demonstrated that the debate is far from settled – and that the UK still needs to have a serious conversation about its future relationship with Europe.
Many commenters welcomed the campaign as an opportunity to examine the economic, political and social consequences of Brexit, which they argued are still being felt a decade on. Several said closer cooperation with Europe is inevitable, particularly on trade, security and defence, while others argued Britain would ultimately be stronger as an EU member.
However, the discussion also exposed the depth of the divisions that remain. Some readers insisted Brexit should be accepted as a settled democratic decision and warned against any move towards rejoining the bloc. Others argued public opinion has shifted significantly since 2016 and that the case for rejoining deserves renewed debate.
A recurring theme was the need for a more civil and evidence-based discussion. Readers from across the political spectrum expressed frustration at the toxicity that has often characterised Brexit debates, with several calling for a comprehensive and impartial assessment of Brexit’s costs and benefits.
While there was little agreement on what Britain’s future relationship with Europe should look like, many readers agreed on one thing: this is a conversation the country still needs to have.
Here’s what you had to say:
The thing I hate the most about Brexit is how polarised we appear to have become, where people with opposing and opposite perspectives have lost the ability to agree to disagree or have a civil debate.
I’ve also been shocked by how many people I know whose politics were left of centre are now fully behind Farage and Reform. If anyone can explain this shift of position, I would be interested to hear your views.
We have to build stronger ties with the EU and they with us, but how strong these ties are and in what form they might take is something no one can really guess. If there were another referendum tomorrow, I’m not sure which way I would vote, but I’m happy to hear (and listen to) everyone’s perspective before I decide.
A growing majority, particularly among younger people, can now see the consequences of a decision driven more by nationalistic wishful thinking than by economic reality.
The old generation of dyed-in-the-wool Brexiteers could never accept Britain’s loss of dominance, and they never will.
If we are going to have closer trade links, theirs is the established customs union where they sit and decide the standards, but we have no input at all. To trade with them means our goods and services have to comply with their rules, simply because they are bigger than us.
So, we still end up being rule takers, but even worse than when we were members, we have absolutely no input into the decisions on what those rules are at all.
As for contributions, living in any political system, or more attractively democracy, has an administrative cost. The rewards, however, come on the “benefit” side of any cost-benefit analysis, being a more prosperous economy not hindered by trade barriers.
I’ll bet another referendum would be well over a 60/40 split in favour of returning to the EU.
We are an island, but we don’t need to isolate ourselves. That is just a folly that makes no sense whatsoever to the majority of the population. We have to engage with the world for our future benefit – and the best of that world is right on our doorstep.
As someone who works in Brussels, I can assure you the EU will not willingly accept the UK back. The UK is not trusted and cannot be trusted in any aspect of economic, political or social thinking. Europeans do not believe the UK will abide by any treaty it signs. Europeans believe that at a near future time, when there is internal political advantage, the UK will tear up previous agreements.
I think we all know that the sophisticated Europeans won’t finally take us seriously again until we jettison both Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.
Johnson has disappeared.
Now we have to expose the lies of Farage and his supporters, and then we can start preparing to rejoin.
The most important question is: does the EU want the UK back?
The prevailing sentiment in the EU is “sorry to see you go, but you can always apply to fully rejoin, including the euro and Schengen”.
The EU holds all the cards on this one.
Labour is making tentative efforts to cherry-pick a few little deals that the EU may agree to, however Reform have promised to undo these and scrap parts, if not all, of the Withdrawal Agreement as soon as they can.
As for UK public opinion, as Mark Twain said: “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
My family and friends have relations who lost their lives in WW2, the intent of which was to free the countries in Europe from terror and repression being exercised by the Nazi regime. It was successful and the peoples of Europe are free to extensively wander, live and work in any part. Only the UK has no such freedom. Those who gave their lives to gain such freedom have been betrayed by those who negotiated our exit from the EU.
What we are all missing is a comprehensive cornerstone report and study on the impact of Brexit, including its pros and cons, along with the net result of 10 years of Brexit disruption. You hear £100bn per year cost here, large tax increases there, and read positive arguments for Brexit in the comments of some articles. This report should include fact and relevance checking for all of these claims for and against. Is there such a report currently? I feel it should be produced by the civil service and be as neutral as possible.
“But the UK is still divided” – that’s because remainers still won’t accept they lost, and are determined to plunge us back into the EU at any cost.
Maybe if they tried supporting their country instead of sabotaging it, we might get more benefits from Brexit?
Even now, years later, we are still fully aligned with all EU policies, with the government having spent years quietly passing bills to keep us aligned, rather than branching out and trying to use our new-found freedom.
It depends on what your proposed new relationship looks like. If we keep the EU as neighbours with whom we trade and, on some areas (including defence), co-operate, then I’m up for that. But we must never again take rules from Brussels or put money in its coffers.
The UK is probably now the most divided country in Europe. Divisive politics, with too many exploiting divisions or anything that offers itself as a means of advancing their own careers. Many of the so-called advocates of Brexit weren’t interested in the effect on the country; it was merely something they saw that would benefit them personally. Cameron, who set it in motion, did it in the hope of improving his position in the party – he failed miserably.
Calls to rejoin the EU seem to be getting louder. Certainly not because more of the British want to be able to call themselves Europeans, but because they hope it will improve the economy, make travelling in Europe easier again and, in some cases, they believe all migrants can simply be sent back across the Channel or blocked from coming in the first place.
What is the UK offering the EU in return for membership? More headaches, a massive bill to start the work that was ongoing investing in run-down regions, and despite avid Brexiter claims, getting far more back than the membership fee. The possibility of Brexit II if Reform should gain more power should, without much else, make any attempt at re-joining a long, complex process if nothing else does. How long would the UK need to meet membership requirements?
The democratic processes in the EU demand that all member states have a voice in the decision-making process. Right now, it’s hard to believe that all members would be prepared to support the UK re-joining. Wanting “in” for what you can get out of it won’t endear them to support the UK. Looking at NI, it’s no wonder more in the UK want to re-join. The noise from the general population doesn’t sound as if the majority want membership for the right reasons.
I would support the EU if it had a directly elected commission voted in by the population of Europe instead of an undemocratic appointed bureaucracy.
It’s a simple matter of do you want to live under a dictatorship or democracy?
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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