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Once again, Brexit fantasies are brushing up against Brexit reality. For the fifth time in a row, the government has been forced to postpone plans to “take back control of our borders” because they simply don’t work.
Jacob Rees-Mogg brashly claimed in 2017 that Brexit would bring down food costs by 20 per cent or more. Over time, it became clear that – because we no longer recognised the EU’s safety standards – red tape at the border was going to raise prices. Mogg himself described it as an “act of self-harm”. His solution? Delay the new border regime endlessly.
Two years on and the UK still has no customs regime in place for EU imports. Sunak’s government has all but admitted that the hard-Brexit vision they’ve campaigned on for years is fundamentally unworkable. All they can think to do is continue pushing the deadline over the horizon.
A small silver lining of this chronic incompetence is that there will be one less factor driving food price rises upward in the coming months but it’s not all good news. The lack of a customs regime is a potential public health risk – we’re currently not checking anything that comes into the country from the EU. So much for taking back control.
None of this would have happened if we’d simply accepted the EU’s safety standards. It’s time for the government – and the opposition – to accept we need a new way forward. We need to have an open and honest conversation about the dire situation we’re in and the options for getting ourselves out of it. There is a mountain of clear evidence now that this hard Brexit is rotten to the core. It’s eating away at our social, economic and political wellbeing and it’s only going to get worse if we don’t take decisive action soon. We can’t keep doubling down on something so damaging, hoping minor policy tweaks will “make it work”.
Two new polls show that Brexit regret is at an all-time high. The will of the people cannot be ignored – the public is allowed to change its mind, especially now all of the lies about Brexit are laid bare.
Open Britain will keep fighting for a system that acknowledges everyone’s voice and allows this majority to express its dissent – one that will allow us to break out of this democratic dystopia where both major parties are locked into a futile commitment to “make Brexit work”.
All the best,
The Open Britain team
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