Britain left the EU on January 31, 2020, with promises of a freed, competitive economy. Six years later, Labour’s leading figures frame their political contest around edging Britain back toward the European Union and doing so quickly. Keir Starmer emphasizes making Brexit work, Wes Streeting highlights economic self-harm from the current settlement, and Andy Burnham adopts a more European social-democratic tone. Pro-European observers see this as vindication because Brexit has produced sluggish trade, weak investment, friction, and weaker international confidence. However, Labour’s renewed focus on Europe offers limited comfort because it often treats business as something to manage, tax, and scold rather than as the engine of prosperity. Rejoining the EU would likely improve economic prospects, but membership alone would not constitute a growth strategy.
"On January 31, 2020, Britain finally "did Brexit". Boris Johnson stood outside Downing Street promising a reborn, buccaneering economy, freed from Brussels bureaucracy and ready to conquer the world. Six years later, the political weather has changed so dramatically that the contest among Labour's leading figures increasingly resembles a bidding war over who can edge Britain back closest to the European Union, and how quickly."
"For someone instinctively and unapologetically pro-European, this ought to feel like vindication. Brexit has delivered exactly what many business leaders feared: sluggish trade, weak investment, endless friction and a Britain that appears smaller in the eyes of international capital. The fantasy of Singapore-on-Thames dissolved into the reality of anaemic growth and exhausted public finances."
"Yet there is little comfort in Labour's apparent rediscovery of Europe because there remains remarkably little evidence that Labour understands business itself. The modern Labour Party talks fluently about regulation, industrial strategy and "partnership", but often with the air of people who regard wealth creation as something faintly embarrassing. Business is treated less as the engine of prosperity and more as a useful utility to be managed, taxed and occasionally scolded."
"Rejoining the EU, or moving significantly closer to it, would unquestionably improve Britain's economic prospects. Markets would welcome it. Investors would welcome it. Countless exporters would breathe again. But membership alone is not a growth strategy. Germany is in the EU an"
Read at London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com
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