31 January 2023
As the UK marks three years since leaving the EU and the IMF confirms that the UK economy will shrink and perform worse than any other advanced economy in the year ahead [1], the Green Party has called for the country to become ‘rejoin ready’ so the UK can rejoin the EU when the political conditions are right.
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer, said:
“With the IMF pointing to the UK as the only major economy facing a decline, it is clear that Brexit has been all pain and no gain. From labour market shortages to less resilience in the face of economic shocks; from a collapse in foreign investment to sharply reduced trade, all the economic indicators show that Brexit has failed.
“Only the Green Party has the courage to consider reversing this huge political mistake and question whether it would be better if the UK were to return to the EU.
“As Greens we believe that the UK should rejoin the EU as soon as the political conditions are right. We need to get the country ‘rejoin ready.’ The EU will need to see us as a reliable partner before they are willing to open negotiations, while our eventual decision would clearly need to depend on the conditions we were able to negotiate.
“In the immediate term we must now renegotiate to restore freedom of movement to address labour market shortages, rejoin the customs union to ease the situation with goods crossing our borders, and end plans to shred thousands of pieces of EU legislation that help protect workers’ rights and the environment [2].
“A majority of the public are now with us on rejoining the EU. Three years on, it’s time to admit our mistake and end the economic, social and environmental damage caused by trashing our relationship with our nearest neighbours.”
Notes
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64452995
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