Be careful not to mention the ‘B’ word

The wounds from the Brexit wars are yet to fully heal. Poking them now may lead to them opening up again, writes Marie Le Conte

This iteration of the House of Commons just doesn’t feel like the one able to change course even slightly (EPA)

There are some words that you type or read on a screen that make your heart feel like a stone dropping inside your chest. It can be the name of a former partner, or a reference to a place that is long gone – but still missed. You never know what it will be until it happens.

As I found out yesterday, one of those words that triggers this reaction deep within my soul is “Brexit”. Christ, even spelling it out just now was painful.

“Britain mulls Swiss-style ties with Brussels,” The Sunday Times told us over the weekend. All the greatest hits were played in the story. The government wants closer ties with the EU but doesn’t want free movement; the ERG is pre-emptively frothing at the mouth; the EU should want this as much as we want it; “Lord Frost”; “Chequers”. That last one made me flinch.

If you managed to miss the story, due to “having a life” or “seeing the word Brexit and closing the tab immediately”, it’s all pretty straightforward. Some in government think that it is time for Britain to form stronger economic ties with the European Union.

The goal would be to pursue frictionless trade (those words! argh!) and “remove the vast majority of trade barriers with the bloc” over the next decade. It would require a more liberal migration policy for EU citizens and payments to the EU budget, as well as greater oversight for the European Court of Justice.

You can probably imagine how a healthy portion of the Conservative benches reacted to this news. If you can’t, imagine driving over someone’s puppy – then dial up the hysteria a little further. It’s all been very dignified.

Though Downing Street has already denied that any Swiss-style deal is on the cards, fingers have already been pointed at Jeremy Hunt – the all-powerful chancellor and former Remainer. The tussle between No 10 and No 11 will be interesting to follow over the next few weeks and months as, lest we forget, Rishi Sunak always was a Brexiteer. Can Hunt make an economic case strong enough to supersede the political one?

Or, perhaps more importantly – should he? At risk of drawing the ire of the FBPE crowd, I simply am not sure that there is any point reigniting the Brexit wars at this point in time.

As trade wonk Sam Lowe pointed out on Twitter, the “UK debate [is] suffering from everyone having actually spent five or so years pouring over every little Brexit detail. So when someone says ‘Swiss-style’ relationship, rather than hearing ‘a slightly better relationship than now’ everyone is like ‘LET ME GET MY NOTES’”.

In short: the wounds from the Brexit wars are yet to fully heal. Poking them now may lead to them opening up again. Many pro-Remain MPs left the Commons in 2019 – but not all of them did, and many of the Leave-supporting ones are still in post. As you may remember, the latest Tory intake also had to sign a Brexit pledge in order to be able to stand for the party.

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Maddeningly frustrating as it may be, this iteration of the House of Commons just doesn’t feel like the one able to change course even slightly. Bringing the B-word back into the forefront of people’s minds will achieve little, and probably cause untold damage.

The Conservative Party is already bitter and split as it is; this could make it break. The Labour side probably wouldn’t have it quite as bad, but it is fair to say they aren’t jumping with excitement at the prospect either. Given the state the country is currently in, making parliament more sanguine and divided again doesn’t feel like a price worth paying, at least not yet.

That doesn’t mean Britain should never seek to get closer to the EU again. It just needs to bide its time. As any couple who broke up but managed to stay friends in the long run can tell you, sometimes you need to stay apart for a while before attempting to reset the relationship.