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The Herald Scotland

Brexit destruction - 'stupidest' and 'unhinged' fair enough

It would surely be easy to make the argument that he hit the nail on the head. After all, it is certainly not wise decision-making which is behind a move to cause major damage to your economy. Mr Bloomberg, who was visiting his eponymous company's Dublin offices exactly nine years after the UK's referendum, added of Brexit: 'It's hard to believe how they did it.' It is indeed difficult to believe, as the nightmare continues. Mr Bloomberg's comments evoked memories of what Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow, had to say about Brexit in the aftermath of the vote. Sir Anton told the Scottish Government Brexit Summit for Further and Higher Education back in November 2018: 'I've previously referred to our impending exit from the EU as 'the most unhinged example of national self-sabotage in living memory'. 'Nothing has happened in the last few weeks to change that view. Indeed, with the confusion and uncertainty we are seeing every day in Whitehall, if anything my view has only hardened.' This was before former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson's administration took the UK out of the European single market at the end of December 2020 in a hard Brexit. This folly saw the ending of free movement of people between the country and the European Economic Area and the loss of frictionless trade with the UK's biggest trading partner. Read more So words such as 'unhinged', from Sir Anton, and 'stupidest', from Mr Bloomberg, seem perfectly measured and proportionate in the scheme of things. What is also hard to fathom, based on any economic rationale, is the Labour Government's 'red lines' of not taking the UK back into the European Union, single market, or even the customs union. That said, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Labour look to be far more focused on politics than economics when it comes to Brexit, and specifically appear terrified of upsetting those red-wall voters who swept Mr Johnson to power in December 2019. It was this general election victory which enabled the incredibly foolish hard Brexit for which we are all paying the price - Leave and Remain voters alike. My column in The Herald last Wednesday - focused on a YouGov poll which surely yielded some interesting findings for Sir Keir and Labour - observed: 'Les Britanniques 'Bregret' beaucoup.' Noting the ninth anniversary, on June 23, of the vote for Brexit, the pollster declared: 'YouGov polling has long since shown that the public are 'Bregretful' about that outcome, with our latest survey showing 56% think it was wrong for Britain to vote to leave the EU.' My column observed: 'There might still be the sounds of 'non, je ne Bregret rien' from those who voted for the folly. And some of those who led voters down the Brexit path continue to bump their gums rather noisily. 'However, the quieter majority clearly knows what is actually going on. YouGov's latest findings show, as its polls have for years now, a clear majority believes the UK was wrong to leave the EU. Only 31% now think the UK was right to leave.' Read more The YouGov poll found most people in the UK want to see the country return to the EU - 56%. This is way ahead of the 34% opposing such a move, with 10% of those polled saying they do not know. Sir Nick Harvey, chief executive of the European Movement UK campaign group, said on June 22: "Labour's 'red lines' on its relationship reset with the European Union, including no return to the single market or the EU customs union, must now be revisited and revised. The reasons why will not have escaped the Government's notice, even if it does not want to look in their direction." His observation about Sir Keir's administration not wanting to look at the reasons is an astute one. Not only is Labour sticking with its red lines but it continues to refuse to acknowledge the scale of the Brexit damage. My column last Wednesday, noting another finding of the YouGov poll, observed: 'The fact that 56% of those who voted for Labour last July consider rejoining the EU to be the right priority, right now, raises the question of why Sir Keir and his colleagues seem hell-bent on going along with the views of the minority in their policymaking. Labour has made it clear that it is absolutely intent on maintaining its 'red lines', a truly lamentable state of affairs.' Sir Nick said: "Nine years have passed since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European that time, the consequences for the British people have become increasingly stark. This latest polling not only reinforces that - it shows that more and more people see the benefits of much closer ties with the European Union - having felt the pain of Brexit. "Leaving the EU has delivered a sustained and worsening blow to the UK economy - one that is especially pronounced for the small and medium-sized enterprises that form the backbone of our commercial and industrial landscape who are living with the consequences every day. That has made us all poorer, depleted our economy and weakened our country with a thousand tiny cuts.' There is surely much food for thought in these comments, is there not Sir Keir?