Responding to the news that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is to use a speech today to vow to “make Brexit work”, while ruling out taking the UK back into the customs union or restoring freedom of movement [1], Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:
“At a time when the economic devastation caused by Brexit is becoming increasingly clear, and as public opinion is turning against the decision to leave the European Union, it is quite perverse of Keir Starmer to stick his head in the sand and insist he will make Brexit work.
“This is an idea driven only by Labour’s self-interest rather than the best interests of the country.
“While businesses are suffering and the permanent fall in the value of sterling means we are importing inflation, making the cost of living crisis worse, the fact that the two main parties are indistinguishable from one another on Brexit is a major failing of our political system and is letting millions of people down [2].
“The Green Party has already called for rejoining the customs union, which would ease the tensions in Northern Ireland caused by Johnson’s hard Brexit [3], and for maintaining alignment with EU law and we utterly oppose government attempts to undermine environmental and social protections offered by EU legislation.
“We believe that the ending of freedom of movement has taken away rights and opportunities from our citizens as well as causing employment crises in sectors as varied as agriculture and social care.
“As Greens, we remain proud Europeans and want to see a close relationship with our European partners and real action to address the economic hardship being caused by the current hardline approach. We believe that our future lies at the heart of Europe and we should not be writing off any chance of becoming a member once again at some point in the future when the conditions are right.”
Notes
2 An Ipsos UK study found last week the proportion of Britons who think Brexit has made their daily life worse has risen from 30 per cent in June 2021 to 45 per cent; only 17 per cent said their lives had been made better