Sir Ed Davey weighed in today, while Donald Tusk observed: ‘We still miss you’ (Image: GETTY)
It may be five years to the day since Britain quit the EU – but Remainers have used the anniversary to make it quite clear they are still committed to unpicking .
Britain severed ties with Brussels on January 31, 2020, ending a four-year period of turbulence following the 2016 referendum characterised by rancorous and at times toxic debate.
Eventually, forced things through after becoming Tory leader and Prime Minister after the toppling of Theresa May, winning a general election in December 2019. This enabled him to get his Withdrawal Agreement through the House of Commons.
During that election, then-Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson committed her party to tearing up the referendum result and rejoining the bloc on day one – a stance which was widely seen as explaining her party’s tepid performance and consequently costing both her her job and her seat.
In a statement issued on Friday, her successor, Ed Davey, stopped short of calling for the clock to be turned back completely.
:
However, he said: “We must repair the trading relationship with our neighbours that was so badly ruined under the . Their deal has been an utter disaster for our country – for farmers, fishers and small businesses – caught up in red tape.
“So far the Labour government has failed to show the urgency and ambition needed to fix our relationship with Europe. Ministers must be in a parallel universe if they think we can grow the economy without boosting trade with our nearest neighbours.
“A new UK-EU customs union deal will unlock growth, demonstrate British leadership and give us the best possible hand to play against President Trump.”
The Green Party went further, with Herefordshire MP Dr Ellie Chowns, a former MEP, saying: “The Green Party is very clear that people and planet would benefit from much closer relationships between our country and the .
Don’t miss… [PICTURES]
Dr Ellie Chowns is the Green MP for North Herefordshire (Image: Getty)
“We will continue to press the Labour government to be braver and bolder in overcoming the negative impacts of .”
Full membership of the EU remains the best option for the UK, and we are in favour of pursuing a policy to re-join as soon as the political will is present.”
Such a move would require building sufficient pubic support, Dr Chowns acknowledged.
She added: “We should also rejoin the customs union to begin to overcome the obstacles that small businesses have faced in trading with our closest partners since .
We still miss you??????
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk)
“While joining the single market would provide benefits in terms of free movement of people, goods, services and capital, membership of the Single Market without membership of the EU would not be an ideal long-term solution because the UK would not be a full partner in decision making processes.”
Dr Chowns added: “We’ve learned from the divisiveness of that binary choices push people apart rather than bring people together.
“So, we are proposing the use of citizens’ assemblies to support the wider public to make well-informed decisions about complicated political issues such as our future membership of the EU.”
Meanwhile former Tory MP Anna Soubry, another familiar figure on the pro-Remain side of the debate, shared a YouGov poll suggesting 55 percent of Britons now believe Britain made the wrong choice nine years ago.
Her post prompted Polish PM and former European Council President Donald Tusk to reply: “We still miss you.”