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Rejoin the EU?

droodzilla

pfm Member
A thought experiment:

In the run up to the 2024 general election, a grassroots "Rejoin!" movement is formed and gains favourable coverage in the usual liberal media outlets. Perhaps it is accompanied by the formation of a new political party with a flagship policy of rejoining the EU (sort of an anti Brexit Party). Alternatively, the cause is taken up by one or more of the smaller parties.

How does this make you feel? What would you do?
 
I’m already wondering whether, by then, we might have moved to join the EEA anyway, if we’ve had a year or two of post-Brexit chaos. But if not, I would almost certainly be fully behind a move such as you describe. It might depend on the personalities. Any whiff of elements of the current administration in there and I’d be more wary.
 
I can’t think of many scenarios where we’d be better off from a economic, democratic or human/civil rights perspective outside the EU, so yes, I’d certainly vote to rejoin. The annoyance is we’d almost certainly not get as good a deal as we had previously, and whilst I believe firmly in the core concepts and proportional democracy of the EU I’m far from convinced the Euro works in its current form. By saying that I’d prefer a less than ideal currency to English nationalism in any form, so I’d still sign up. It may help keep the UK together as an entity too as I suspect the rest of the union will want to distance themselves from Little England by 2024.
 
Vineys right, don't think fir a minute that we'd get the same conditions we had before we left.

Must join the Euro for a start, eventually there's going to be a common military system probably run by the Germans as everything else will be, no right to veto what doesn't suit us.

Go back in no, we buggered them about when we were negotiating the exit and we still are as a result of that there would be no favours given if we wanted to go back in. That's coming from someone who said then that we should remain in and still does.
 
Rather more to the point, will the Labour Party have come up with a cogent set of policies on trade and foreign relations by then (or, one would hope, a year or so beforehand)? Will they still be divided between 'hated Blarites' and Corbynists, unable to agree on anything? Or, as I fear, will they continue to rely on the Tories cocking things up so badly that the electorate will vote for Anyone But Boris?
 
Hard to see circumstances under which such a choice would come about in this electoral cycle no matter how bad things get. Then consider it from the European side,as Steve says we will have to serve our time.
 
I found/find Brexit intensely irritating; I would probably find Brentry equally so. I doubt it would fly anyway. Punitive entry conditions, having to adopt the Euro, giving our country away (again) etc.

On the other hand, if our economy is not completely trashed, they will certainly want more net contributors so might be more welcoming.
 
I thought you wanted Labour to win the election! I know, instead of 'Things Can Only Get Better' Starmer could come out in a school boy costume to 'Highway To Hell.'

The correct strategy is to set out what the future relationships look like both with the EU and the rest of the world. I've seen nothing but a gaping void so far, and time is not on his side. He'll be left with no choice but to support the Tories with caveats (as he's doing now) or to oppose the lot which is just a call for rejection of Brexit again. The trouble with the current 'blame Corbyn' strategy is that it misses the real reason for the election defeat.
 
We won’t be allowed to rejoin without joining the Euro. And having the wrong sort of banknotes will be unacceptable to the same people who think we have the wrong colour passports. Politicians will be scared of alienating them. So it won’t happen.

Brexit apologists will never have to admit it was a failure, any forthcoming economic disaster will be squarely blamed on CV casting giant shadows over the should-have-been-sunlit post-Brexit uplands.
 
I found/find Brexit intensely irritating; I would probably find Brentry equally so. I doubt it would fly anyway. Punitive entry conditions, having to adopt the Euro, giving our country away (again) etc.

On the other hand, if our economy is not completely trashed, they will certainly want more net contributors so might be more welcoming.
I think this is the sort of thing behind some of my thoughts as to a move towards EEA/EFTA membership. It'd be a bit of a face-saving move for a lot of Brexitiers, who could pretend that was what they had in mind all along and they never wanted a no-deal outcome. And it'd be more likely to be acceptable to the rEU, who have been royally buggered about for the last four years (and will like as not continue to be buggered about for the next four, in one way or another). I don't see our reapplication for full membership as likely or even possible (likelihood of blackballing from factions on either side, remains high) but EEA or EFTA could be a compromise that would suit both sides.

I know the objection from EEA members such as Norway and Iceland, was the disproportionate size/influence the UK would have, if we joined them. It does seem at least possible that our size/influence would have diminished by then to such an extent that those concerns could be overcome.
 


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