A few more than you see did attend the debate mentioned below but not as many as the petitioners would hope for.
An online petition calling on the UK government to hold a public enquiry into the impact of Brexit gathered more than 200,000 signatures, although 100,000 was sufficient to trigger a parliamentary debate.
The debate took place 24th April 2023 and lasted three hours. A Hansard report suggests MPs attending the debate were disproportionately anti-Brexit.
Much time was given to the perceived outcome, from business red tape, to staffing problems, to fallout in the creative sector. How trade performance had changed, that we were slipping down economic league tables.
There were a few supportive speakers, in the main stating that the most important benefit of Brexit was repatriating our sovereignty. The Pacific rim trade deal was mentioned, with an acceptance that the impact would not be notable.
Changing The Outcome
The parliamentary report has the matter marked as resolved i.e. the house has considered the petition. The government’s written response stated that Brexit was a democratic choice and functioning as intended, a public enquiry not appropriate.
That route is not going to open up but debate will still rumble on, even though we can not change history. For better or worse, we left the EU. We did not however leave Europe, nobody towed us away.
In July 2024, we will host partners from across Europe, at the European Political Community meeting in the UK. In the interim, some political and economic matters continue to be managed in a shared way.
Politicians of all parties have acknowledged a need for renegotiation, yet change is as likely to come from cooperation. Working with your neighbours has a more positive impact than building higher fences.
Stimulating Trade
Measuring change in trade due to Brexit is not straightforward, with the Covid pandemic and Ukraine invasion adding complexity. The way data is collected has also changed, although the image below gives a reasonable picture:
The collapse at the end of the transition period was short lived, our percentage of exports and imports with the EU are not so different from the past. Breadth of trade has been impacted but life is similar.
There are additional business requirements to be managed. Since the Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into full force, supplying ATA carnets for the EU has been a significant part of our business.
They are however working well and other systems have settled down. The EU has issued special procedures guidance which removes a few barriers.
If the world had just appeared as is, we would see Europe as central to trade and an opportunity for more. All we need to do is work together to stimulate commerce, barriers can be set aside, real, or imaginary.
The Political Field
Brexit was a political decision, rather than economic logic. The politics may change as people in power do but no new faces, or impact assessment can alter what occurred, not even a public enquiry.
Of course people are thoughtful and views still vary, from following the pied piper of a cliff, to carrying out the will of the people. We all hold individual concerns, from citizens rights, to living in Europe, to staffing the NHS.
We can not however flick a switch and rejoin the EU, which would require clear public and political will, along with an arduous process. Doing everything we can to improve trade and our relationship with Europe is the present task.