'If you're sick of Brexit, you should get shot of Brexit', David Miliband says

'Brexit is squeezing the life out of the social and economic reform that the country desperately needs'

Sunday 03 June 2018 17:03 BST

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Can Brexit be reversed?

If people are really sick of Brexit then “they should get shot of Brexit”, David Miliband, the former foreign secretary has said.

Mr Miliband has made several high-profile recent interventions on Brexit as the date of Britain’s exit inches ever nearer.

“The truth about Brexit is two fold,” he told the Hay literary festival on Saturday. “One, it is squeezing the life out of politics and its ability to address precisely the concerns that drove people to vote for Brexit in the first place.

“There is no legislation on social care, there is no legislation on housing and homelessness, there’s not even legislation on immigration.

“Brexit is squeezing the life out of the social and economic reform that the country desperately needs.

“People often say to me ‘Yeah, but look people are sick of Brexit and we just need to get on with it’, my point is if you’re really sick of Brexit you need to get shot of Brexit.

Mr Miliband said that he would take part in any campaign to vote against the terms of any Brexit deal in comments which demonstrated his implacable opposition to the UK leaving the European Union.

He was asked at the Hay literary festival on Saturday whether, if there was a referendum on the nature of Brexit, he would be part of a campaign to reject it.

“Of course,” he said. “I tried to campaign last time, I hope I’d campaign more effectively next time.”

His comments came the day after a further group of Labour backbenchers rebelled against the leadership to demand a second referendum on the Brexit deal, in a letter to The Independent.

He also said that Jeremy Corbyn should back the idea of a "Norway model" for Britain after Brexit.

The Labour leader should allow his MPs to vote for a European Economic Area (EEA) deal, that would provide a "safe harbour" in a world that has markedly changed since the 2016 referendum.

Mr Miliband said that the EEA would allow concerns over immigration to be addressed because it allowed for an "emergency brake" on migrants.

"We are 708 days from the referendum and Britain still does not have a negotiating position on the most basic elements of our relationship with Europe after Brexit,” he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday.

"I would say the Labour Party had a position on the customs union but not on the single market. I think it would be very wise to say that the EEA is a safe harbour.

"The offer that was made at the time of Brexit is not on the table, the global situation has been transformed much for the worse, not least by the actions of President (Donald) Trump,” he said.

"I believe it's absolutely essential that we face reality head-on. That reality is that people should be able to have a final say on whether or not to go ahead with the form of Brexit that is negotiated by the government."

Mr Corbyn's team have previously said that the EEA idea has "clear problems" in relation to any new trade deal.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

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1/8The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Post-Brexit immigration

workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Customs union

A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that “Brexit means Brexit” and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UK’s economic outlook become clearer.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Northern Ireland-Irish border

Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Party’s coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a “specific solution” would need to be found.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Transition period

Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Rights of EU citizens living the UK

The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Future trade agreement (with the EU)

Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Future trade agreements (internationally)

The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period.

EPA

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Financial services

Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period.

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Last month his spokesman said: "The EEA packages that are currently in existence do not meet the needs and the priorities that we have set out and the Norway option is not appropriate and will not work for the kind of Brexit we want to see."

On Friday, 16 Labour MPs in London joined forces with Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable and two of his MPs to warn of the dangers that the capital faces when the UK leaves the European Union.

The UK is set to be worse off after Brexit, according to the government’s own impact reports.

GDP could fall by 7.7 per cent over 15 years if the UK opts for a World Trade Organisation-type post-Brexit trading arrangement with the EU, the analysis found.

Under an EEA deal the fall would be 1.6%.

The signatories of the letter to The Independent, which urged a deal that keeps Britain in the customs union and single market, included six former shadow ministers, several of whom were in place until last year.

It came the day after 10 Welsh Labour MPs called for a second referendum, including Anna McMorrin and Tonia Antoniazzi, who are parliamentary private secretaries to shadow cabinet members.

Other Labour backbenchers who have called for a second referendum on the Brexit deal include MPs in the North East.

Mr Corbyn has repeatedly said Labour does not support a second national poll and fired Owen Smith as shadow Northern Ireland secretary for proposing one.

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