Keir Starmer must urgently develop a range of practical policies to tackle the economic “disaster” of Brexit and prevent it driving Scotland towards independence, a former Labor Europe minister has warned.
Backed by several Labor colleagues, Peter Hain, who is also a former Northern Ireland Secretary, says the crises caused by climate change, the war in Ukraine, lack of economic growth and rising food prices energy can only be addressed through closer cooperation with our EU. neighbors than the current Brexit agreements allow.
Writing in today’s Observer, Lord Hain describes Brexit as a “taboo subject” because the Tories “will not admit” the enormous damage it has done to the economy and because Labor remains “understandably reluctant to revive old Brexit flames.”
But Hain argues that, as the governor of the Bank of England, the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development now agree, leaving the EU is the main reason why the UK United is the only G7 country with an economy still. below its pre-pandemic size, and Labour, as the future party of government, has a duty to prepare a detailed plan to limit the damage from Brexit.
Hain says that across a range of policies Brexit has failed and the effects – often the opposite of those promised by leading Brexiteers – will only become more apparent, with potentially lethal effects on England’s union with Scotland and Wales them and Northern Ireland.
“Brexit, which is supposed to control immigration, has in fact led to both chronic labor shortages and a dramatic jump in net migration in the year to June 2022 to a record 504,000, deeply ironic given the racist tone of much of the Brexit campaign.
“As these Brexit failures become more apparent, support for Scottish independence appears to be on the rise. Unless Labor does something about it, we could end up with independence driven at least in part by Brexit, which Nicola Sturgeon continually insists on making her case.
Among the measures suggested by Hain, in addition to measures to help UK businesses restore exports with the EU, is a negotiated removal of post-Brexit travel restrictions, including the 90-day limit on citizens from the UK visiting the EU within 180 days. It also proposes actions to resolve the crisis over the Northern Ireland protocol, and cooperation in energy policy and climate change.
He writes: “It is high time we all confronted the Brexit fantasy of a ‘sovereign global Britain’. The writing is on the wall. Our destiny lies, if not within, then certainly with Europe, and the work it needs practical policies to achieve this.”
Former Labor home secretary David Blunkett backed Hain’s intervention and said the economic cost of Brexit to the government was one of the factors preventing it from offering more generous pay rises to public sector workers, the cause of the current strikes.
Lord Blunkett said: “Peter Hain is absolutely right to highlight the huge economic impact that can be identified as a direct result of Brexit. A 15% drop in trade identified by the Office for Budget Responsibility illustrates, graphically , the loss of resources that could be available to meet the challenge of drastic falls in income and therefore the ability of public employers to offer more generous wage increases and reduce the pressure cooker of industrial action”.
Former TUC general secretary John Monks suggested Labor should support moves to solve the UK’s labor shortage. “One problem could be addressed immediately: the acute shortage of workers in some sectors, after Brexit, especially hospitality and agriculture. This could be done by opening up the visa scheme from skilled workers to key semi and unskilled workers.”
Wary of alienating Brexit voters, Starmer, a standout who remained before becoming Labor leader, has been at pains to stress that he will not support any return to the EU single market or customs union, let alone contemplate a return to full membership of the EU, if he becomes prime minister.
He also recently ruled out bringing back the free movement of people between Britain and the EU, saying it would be a “red line” for Labor if he came to power, despite backing the policy three years ago.
As evidence mounts of the negative effects of Brexit, many in Labor now believe the time has come to support closer ties with the EU.
Starmer has also ruled out a “Swiss-style” deal with the EU, which would allow access to the single market but require more generous immigration rules, after reports the government was considering such a deal lead to frantic denials of #10.