Comment: Brexit 'reset' cannot repair the damage it did to people with links to France

In May, Sir Keir Starmer’s government began a process which it calls the ‘Brexit reset’, a careful euphemism for correcting some of the the mistakes of Brexit. 

Even die-hard Brexiteers now concede there were missteps taken in the process of implementing the 2016 referendum, although I have yet to hear any of them that the whole enterprise was misguided and only succeeded because of untenable promises and lies.

“An apology from the Brexit lobby is too much to hope for,” wrote Simon Jenkins in The Guardian. “Silence might be a relief.” 

Actually, I think we are entitled to more than the 5th amendment. We need to hear from the zealous advocates of Brexit to make amends not just for their shoddy extradition of an entire country but for an even bigger disaster: the global disintegration of intelligent debate.

Read more: I am sick of having to justify my country’s politics to people in France

Costs of Brexit

Anyone can argue for any course of action but they must take responsibility for its implementation and the costs involved.

To be clear, this is not about who won the referendum. It is about how the result was interpreted and implemented, and by whom. Did “yes” mean a hard or soft Brexit? Could sovereignty be regained without making trading conditions difficult? And could/should these decisions be made by parliament or the prime minister with only minimal public input?

I don’t need to point out that regaining British “independence” was at the expense of British people with close links with France. 

My right to vote in local elections; the right of second-home owners to enjoy them for more than 90 days at a stretch; my right to receive deliveries from the UK free of duty; my right to relocate to a third EU country if I so choose etc were sacrificed on the altar of Brexit. 

EU and impact on UK

These irritating injustices have nothing to do with trade or sovereignty and everything to do with incompetent, high-handed negotiating which simply ignored British people who were integrated into other EU countries. 

That’s without listing all the undesired and unanticipated side-effects of hampering scientific research, impeding the free movement of touring musicians, enabling young people to make educational and intercultural exchanges, and so on.

You will remember that many prominent people claimed to publicly know what they were doing with Brexit. Some of them, unbelievably, were raised to the peerage for their services to British society.

Read more: Comment: French solidarity is the antidote we need against ‘Thumpism’

Own your mistakes

If any of the following named gentlemen read this newspaper – I know some of them are Francophiles – perhaps they would like to write in to defend the views they published before the referendum and subsequently as to how Brexit was a wise move. Free speech also demands being willingly accountable for one’s words. 

Let’s start with Messrs Cummings, Gove, Farage, François, Johnson, Rees-Mogg and Tombs; and lords/barons Frost, Hannan, Moore and Roberts. If they cannot remember what they wrote in support of Brexit, or in criticism of Remainers, I will be happy to quote from my Brexit archive. 

They must hope that everyone has forgotten the things they said in the heat of the moment, but they should not be allowed to wriggle off the hook.

What we need now – the UK, France and the world – is a return to political debate which does not degenerate into slanging matches and unsubstantiated accusations. 

We are all capable of getting swept away by ideology and fanaticism but there is a time for passion and a time to take the blame for getting it wrong. 

There is no shame in this; quite the opposite. To own one’s previous words and accept the damage they have caused is to become a better person.

What would be on your wishlist for a 'Brexit reset'? Let us know at letters@connexionfrance.com