Conservatives managed our decline for the last ten years and people were finally fed up of it, nationally and locally. People wanted change and they voted for it in 2024, relegating the source of their pain to the role of noisy and frustrated spectators. We also now face the headwinds created in the wider world by bad actors like Presidents Putin, Xi and Trump, compounding the homespun decisions and actions of the last ten years.
Greatest of these homegrown headwinds is Brexit. There were many good reasons to dislike the EU and to have voted to leave but there were no excuses for leaving in the shocking way we did. With no planning and with political posturing overriding good sense, we agreed almost the very hardest Brexit deal possible. North Dorset’s current MP wrote last month about buyer’s remorse, but in the realm of Brexit there is little realistic chance of sending anything back to the shop anytime soon – and his party was the shopkeeper of our current pain. Unless something changes, our economic fortunes will continue to be held back by that deal.
So, the way forward must be to negotiate, and we have started to see the very early glimmers of what cooperation can achieve. Through the very modest improvements negotiated last month, the UK and EU laid down the absolute basics of a useful deal – a micro-deal. It should help our farmers a bit, companies with European supply chains too, and it might just re-ignite the enthusiasm of small companies to start exporting again. As a bonus, perhaps there will also soon be a deal to allow young people to travel and work. Probably the most important result, though, was to establish a new willingness and practical process for future negotiations. Let’s be honest with ourselves: Brexit is not done, and it never will be. The nearest market is always the most important market, so we will always be negotiating with the EU in some way.
We need to get used to the give-and-take of negotiation … which brings me to another harsh reality. While the micro-trade deal is a win for pragmatism, it stands in stark contrast to the desires of Conservative and Reform populists. Populists are less concerned by evidence, facts and stable judgement. Populists think in terms of ‘them and us’. Populists are comfortable with confrontation and uncomfortable with consensus.
For populists, the micro-deal was a treacherous sell-out, but I have a question: how many populists does it take to change a lightbulb?
None. They’re all too busy sitting in the dark, listening to Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage moaning about how bad it is.
There will be little real world progress if the fantasists get back into power.
Spoiler alert: Liberal Democrats want to go further and be bolder in our relationship with the EU. The quickest path to a stronger economy is to improve our deals with the EU. The UK has much to offer and a huge amount to gain. Our near-term recommendations include creating a bespoke customs deal with the EU that really gets the economy going. Come on Labour, what are you afraid of?
Gary Jackson
North Dorset Liberal Democrats
