Brexit was an act of “sabotage” which was costing Britain up to £30 billion a year, former British foreign secretary David Miliband claimed. He added that the economic losses caused by leaving the EU are equivalent to o “burdensome tax” paid daily by the United Kingdom.
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Writing in Sir Anthony Seldon’s book ‘The Brexit Effect’, serialized by The Independent, Miliband called on the Labor government to “provide a new political impetus” rebuilding closer relations with the European Union.
He also warned that the UK would pay an even higher price if it did not respond urgently to this challenge.
He argued that Britain must reclaim its European identity and strengthen its cooperation with the EU, which he says has been damaged by Brexit.
“We suffer every day from a burdensome tax imposed by Brexit. Estimates show that being outside the customs union costs between 0.5% and 1% of GDP, which is around £15-30 billion a year. We simply cannot afford to stand still on these issues.” emphasized the former Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The statements come in the context in which the UK’s relationship with Europe returned to the political spotlight, particularly within the Labor Party.
Starmer said closer ties with the continent would be a central component of his response to the party’s difficult results in last month’s local elections, adding that he believed Brexit “kept the young people in their place.”
According to Miliband, leaving the European Union has not solved the immigration problem either.
“Let’s remember that when we were members of the EU we had the right to deport back to the European country of first entry anyone arriving by small boat from France”Miliband wrote.
Miliband advocated for effective and fair migration policies and argued that, in an increasingly unstable international context, cooperation between the UK and European states becomes more important to meet global challenges.
He added that the government’s aim should not be that the UK “to try to regain its lost dominance”but to recover “the moral clarity and political vision of who we are and what we stand for.”
More than half of Britons support returning to the EU
According to research published a decade after the Brexit vote, 53% of British citizens support returning to the EUnot just an economic rapprochement through the single market. Support is particularly high among supporters of the Labor Party, Liberal Democrats and the Greens, where it exceeds 80%.
In contrast, Conservative and pro-Brexit voters remain more reserved, although a significant minority would also support such a change in direction.
The study carried out by the organization Best for Britain shows that the majority of voters support closer relations with the EU without returning to European structures.
However, researchers warn that this compromise approach could create resentment on both sides and reopen sensitive sovereignty debates.
Currently, the Labor government is pursuing a strategy of aligning itself with certain European standards, without participating in the decision-making process. This could turn the UK into a “rules importer“, without influence on them, analysts warn.
An example is the sanitary and phytosanitary agreement under negotiation, which could reduce trade barriers for agricultural products, but would require compliance with rules established at European level.
Since leaving the EU in 2020, the UK has moved away from dozens of European regulations, complicating the harmonization process.
