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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Larry Elliott

I’ve got news for those who say Brexit is a disaster: it isn’t. That’s why rejoining is just a pipe dream

Anti-Brexit protesters march to rejoin the EU in London on 23 September 2023.
Anti-Brexit protesters march to rejoin the EU in London on 23 September 2023. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/EPA

Brexit is a dead issue at Westminster. There are any number of issues where it is hard to separate Labour and the Conservatives, and the reluctance to reopen the 2016 referendum debate is one of them. As with tax and spending, Keir Starmer is broadly offering continuity Rishi Sunak.

That doesn’t mean the debate about leaving is over. Plenty of people still nurture the hope that the decision will be reversed and are working to that end. But any successful campaign would need to do two things: convince voters that the UK economy had become a basket case since the Brexit vote and that life for those still in the club was so much better.

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