Reform UK have had to rebrand the party in order to cope with the “swarms of failed Tories” that are now infecting their party. Honest Bobby J joins useless Nadine Dorries and Andrea “the finger) Jenkyn this week. Quite surprisingly, The Trussmeister has not joined yet. We can presume that she’s simply too toxic to be accepted by NF. Boris must be waiting in the wings to pounce on Bad Enoch at her maximum point of weakness. Although anything is possible in our disruptive politics, I think that Boris + Nigel may fall into the category of what Sparks called “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us”. Here are the new logo designs. Feel free to use them in your work and thank you to JP Flowers for converting my CONform concept into the initial design.
Here’s a short roundup of recent activity and some future outlook on the movement to end Brexit, Rejoin the EU and Reboot Britain in a year where insanity was normalised in several political theatres of the absurd around the globe.
Progress 2025
I list three recent projects of note … We were interviewed by Danish journalist Rose Kodal recently on Brexit and Rejoin. She interviewed people across the Brexit spectrum. Her final piece is an interesting perspective of views on Brexit from academic to more out front pragmatic leadership on the topic. Poor old Ken the Brexiteer simply wants his daughter to forgive him for his vote to leave and value his continuing illusions about Brexit as being equivalent to facts. She won’t. Illusions are not of the same value as facts. Find Rose’s brilliant piece of journalism here. If you can help her find her career into journalism you will find her at Rose Nina Kodal Larsen on Linkedin.
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Poor old Ken, bald, stupid, seeking forgiveness for both but unwilling to change his mind on either.
We also did an online masterclass on Rejoining the EU for North Herts for Europe. The session was invaded by Reform UK types who exposed themselves on the call and filled the screens with pornography. This really sums them up. After some careful editing, we salvaged the content. The Q&A is very interesting as it plays to some of the problems we still have as a movement summed up by Qahir. There are no easy fixes to change the culture of the Remoaners as he pleads for. God knows I’ve tried and made myself extremely unpopular into the bargain.
Q&A session. A great insight into the minds of Remainers.
Keynote address. No Reform nudity thankfully …
The Brexit RIP : Reboot Britain book has had another minor update to consider the impact of demographic changes aka death, based on the illusion that Nigel Farage could re-litigate Brexit if elected in 2029. Still people are more occupied by working as NF’s unpaid marketing forrce than driving forwardson our own strategy. Then they wonder why NF prevails. Oh well, this leads me to Project 2026. Here is a sample of the book on this topic.
Dead people cannot vote.
Outlook : Project 2026
I am stepping back from full time involvement in Brexit and Rejoin, having given nearly 10 years of my life, much of it full time and unpaid to do so. Instead, I will work on a project by project basis to continue the work to break Parliamentary silence, leaven the mainstream media’s grip on populism and so on, see our five goals. Projects I am willing to undertake include:
Public speaking to constituency groups and / or movements. such as I did for Labour MP Sadik Al-Hassan in 2025. This was instrumental in breaking the silence on Brexit and promoting a minor rebellion in parliament, alongside the book which we sent to 300 + MPs, risking arrest in Parliament for taking white envelopes to the House of Lords and Portcullis House.
I have been asked to tour the UK in the Bollocks to Brexit Mini on a “Cost of Living” tour, including street events, keynotes and so on. Organising the stunt is easy but ensuring that our message reaches deep into each community’s heart and so on requires work. I’d judge that the project is not currently viable, needing a social media team, press / media people, an on the ground group to organise events and fundraising to cover costs. Get in touch if you would like to help. A mini tour might tame the complexity.
In Clacton with Alastair Campbell who remains one of the consistent voices for Rejoin within Labour.
I was also asked to assist with an Organisation Development (OD) approach to align the various movements who wish to bring a fairer voting system to Britain. Further to some initial analysis, I found that they are just as divided as the Remain movements over ends and means and I have declined until they are ready for such a series of interventions. It would be akin to trying to heal an alcoholic who does not believe they have a problem with alcohol. I have wasted too much of my own time on such projects and ideologues so I’m setting a higher bar for my professional services in 2026. Get in touch if you have a project that may be of value and I promise to take a look at it without prejudice.
The major shift that I have not been able to alter significantly is the “learned helplessness” of the Rejoin / Remoan movement. They are the principle internal obstacle to Rejoin. We could significantly impact the parliamentary silence on the matter if they also stopped arguing about ends and means. Here are some of the daily objections I encounter from such people. It’s seriously wearing, reinforced by mixed messaging from the larger rejoin movements and key actors. I see no possibility of building enough momentum to Rejoin EU until the movement heal themselves. I get hardly any pushback from Brexiteers. We are the obstacle.
Only the cat is a valid reason do do nothing ….
I’m told that Keir Starmer is toast shortly. To be honest I have mixed feelings about it as nobody seems able to tell me what comes from it. We removed Theresa May only to get Boris Johnson … Oh well. To 2026 …. !!!
It was Ken Clarke that popularised the term “the indifferent majority” … aka the vast swathe of people who couldn’t give a fcuk about politics. Farage has weaponised some of them into a loose cabal, united by swans, painting roundabouts, disinformation, shouting at hotels, attacking women and children, paedophilia and flagshagging. They are not the subject of this article however. Here I refer to the great swathe of Remainers / Rejoiners who know what they are against (Brexit and its offspring), but who are unwilling to do anything functional about it, apart from bleating about it on social media, which we all do, but is in effect it’s merely a form of therapy. It achieves very little apart from a release of angst into the ether. Worse still, the Brexiteers mostly love it, as it increases their sense of “winning”. Living as I do in Brexit Central, Reform types love nothing more than the “salty tears of Remoaners”. Nigel Farage benefits tremendously as Remoaners are, in effect, his unpaid marketing force as Reform fans are united by shared victimhood at Maslow’s sense of belonging level of his hierarachy:
Maslow’s hierarchy reframed.
Remoaners generally have no strategy. This, in part, is due to a leadership and strategy and collaboration tactics vacuum at the “top” of the movement. I have written about our structural deficit many times before and in the books. The Rejoin movement resembles Indonesia, 17000 islands, some uninhabited with a few big ones (European Brexit Movement, Best for Brexit Britain etc.), none of whom collaborate and all of whom have different ideas about the “destination and journey” (What, Why and How) of our quest. When asked about what to do about Rejoining the EU, they come up with many different objections, some of which are captured in this graphic. We’ll never achieve anything like this.
Only the cat is a valid objection …
Paul Cawthorne sums up the poverty of the “incrementalist” approach rather well …
Cherry pickers guide – TY Paul Cawthorne.
I have become tired of fighting this war on two fronts. I don’t mind dealing with Leave voters, but dealing with Remoaners who are acting to preserve the stasis sucks the very life out of me … am I beginning to sound like Liz Truss here? !! 🙂
One of my final actions before retirement was to speak about this at the recent North Herts for Europe event, where I also gave a synopsis of the Brexit RIP book. Find the masterclass below. The event was invaded by Reform UK types exposing themselves (literally), although I have removed the offensive material here.
If you like this, send copies of the book Brexit RIP to MPs and influencers. It’s far more effective than posting memes and shouting on social media to be frank. I await the hate mail and excuses from Remoaners … It’s the ideal Christmas gift for Brexiteers in remorse and Remainers in remission. QR codes are below for sharing with friends and connections. My Labour MP has a copy and is circulating it within the government, which is where we need to be if we are to be effective influencers.
Brexit is dead … but the body is still in our lounge … get rid of it.
QR codes. Also available direct from the author at a discount via e-mail reboot@brexitrage.com
Announcing a new contributor to our platform. Raj or “The Brexit Undertaker”, “The Brexorcist”, “The Dark Knight” or “Q-Anon” is a British Indian who is fed up with English passivity on Brexit and a whole slew of issues affecting our sceptered isle. He pulls no punches, taking out the mealy mouthed apologists, Remoaners, Starmerites, Gammon and keyboard warriors by name, without apology. Needless to say, I don’t agree with everything or everyone he chooses to take lumps out of, but I agree with his right to say it. He lives in the Brexity West Midlands under cover. This is his first article of a series entitled Bravery.
Click to view Brexit RIP.
Bravery
We live in a time where the PLP have full control over Parliament and were told by their mouthpieces that they’d do something about Brexit. We are still receiving false assurances from some of Starmer’s mouthpieces like Phil Moorhouse and Graham Hughes (Editor’s note, I personally think that Phil does a good job), although I hope that more people are beginning to ask questions, seek specifics and lobby their MP and influencers with copies of the book Brexit RIP : Reboot Britain. I wrote this on Remembrance day, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, which led to the creation of our NHS but also the EU.
It was the 80th anniversary where we commemorate the brave men & women who fought against fascism at home and abroad. The NHS is an institution we all should cherish and be proud of. The memory of those who gave their lives to fight fascism is why we should fight with all we have to honour the sacrifices they made for us. Brexit and the current trajectory we are on of not undoing it risks the Reform party coming to power and the loss of our NHS. In order to honour their memory, we need to show something that each and every one of them showed- BRAVERY. There were also those who domestically fought against the allies of fascists in Oswald Moseley’s blackshirts. Our predecessors wouldn’t have tolerated him becoming PM, neither should we. Failure to fight and reverse Brexit will result in his heir, Farage, becoming PM.
BRAVERY is the 7 elements we should possess from a mental perspective to fight the fascists.
Brexit is the root cause of all the problems we face. Be it human rights, cost of living, fascism on the rise. See Brexit RIP : Reboot Britain for a sober evaluation of the opportunities we can grasp by Rejoining the EU.
Remember and Revere those who gave their lives to fight fascism by continuing their battle. Also remember whose actions & inaction led to the mess we are in right now- Corbyn & Starmer are both the enemy here, as are the Tories & Tarage. Corbyn’s three line whip, refusal to leave power and his own authoritarian moves have been used against him by Starmer against him.
Accountability and Actions Daily actions matter, not just waiting for the next election. Every MP who voted to trigger Article 50, every corrupt deal made during Covid, is likely to have committed Public Office Misconduct. This offence carries a potential life sentence. If Nonce Andrew lost his title as a Royal, anyone is fair game, especially MPs. This is the realm of legal activists and not something we currently have the legal muscle or finances to do. You can change that by supporting us.
Vision We need to be bold, think big and have a target in mind for what success looks like. See Brexit RIP : Reboot Britain Brexit is the root cause of our issues, it is something we need to remember and accountability is the desired goal by which we reverse this. The impacts are in the book and you can find our vision and five goals of how we’d spend what we’ve lost on improving people’s lives. Accountability for MPs who have committed crimes & those engaging in corruption needs to be part of it. See the Brexit iceberg for a simplified multiple cause and effect diagram.
The Brexit Iceberg. Read more at Brexit RIP. Click to read.
Epstein To deliver our vision, to have accountability, to remember who led us to this, we need a unified message. What better than Epstein – this ties Farage, The Royal Family, Trump and the Tories together. All are involved in this. People hate corruption and bringing down the corrupt is essential to bringing about the world we want.
Reclaim the narrative and language. We need to position ourselves as the patriots, the ones who love our country. This is done by explaining our vision, how rejoining will make our lives better, and through the gentle art and discipline of Brexorcism.
Read the book of Brexorcism.
You This is aimed at some Caucasian readers, who love to deny the systemic nature of bigotry, by saying that they can’t be racist because they don’t use the N Word. Looking the other way, while abuse of this nature is inflicted upon those who aren’t part of the In group (not white) are abused, often illegally. How much do you want to succeed, to deliver this vision and achieve accountability by reversing Brexit?
Editor’s note: I’m not a member of this group, but English passivity and culture lie at the root of this issue. Changing culture is not a five minute job. You are encouraged to read my books on OD and culture change.
I’m delighted to announce the release of our 15th book on AMAZON and KINDLE and via direct despatch. The work of 60 citizens including a KC, two former MEPs and subject experts across a number of fields. Brexit is dead, but the body is still in our living room. Let’s bury this rotting corpse so that we can Reboot Britain to “fix the fundamentals”. This new book explores the opportunities to be seized and threats to be avoided by applying to Rejoin The EU.
Reboot Britain : Brexit RIP has had a complete overhaul in response to changing world conditions and feedback from MPs and readers. It is some 45 pages longer than it’s predecessor.
We invite you to purchase copies for distribution to MPs, influencers and media representatives now that moratorium on uttering the word Brexit has been lifted. Only NF does not wish to speak its name as Brexit is his Achilles’ Heel. Find the book on AMAZON, on KINDLE. Order copies direct by e-mailing us at reboot@brexitrage.com
To help spread the word, you can show others samples of the book by asking them to point their phone at the QR codes below to “look inside”.
Book launch event
Join Gavin Budge from North Herts for Europe at our launch event where you can ask questions about Rejoining the EU, political calculus, the rise and demise of the far right and much more.
I responded to one of Rupert Lowe’s dog whistle posts on Linkedin about deporting all foreigners and was greeted with this reply by Steven. Steven is angry. Rupert Lowe and Tommy Ten Names have triggered him. He lashes out at others rather than look deep within himself. Don’t be like Steven ….
It turns out that bad news travels fast. The post on Facebook attracted hundreds of thousands of impressions, likes and comments. Whenever I post something positive about what we can do about the populist wave or Brexit carnage, the world falls silent. It seems that people know what they are against but rather less about what they are for … 🙁
I attended the anti-racist event in Rochester. Some 200 people attended to face 15 UKIP supporters with perhaps 100 police in attendance. The bill for these protests will mean more money wasted to build a better Britain (The Farage Riots of 2024 cost £32 million). This year’s flagshagging events will cost more. The flagshaggers marched up to Rochester Castle, not to pour boiling oil and shower us with arrows from the turrets, but for a much needed toilet break after a heavy session in Wetherspoons … They then departed. MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, I bumped into the Labour Party MP Tristan Osbourne and met with the Green Party of Medway and Lib Dems at the event.
Labour in vain
I congratulated Tristan on Labour’s decision to talk about Brexit after snuffing out all conversation about a major source of our malaise in the General Election. See Labour GE Post-Mortem for more detail.
I then pointed out that ‘one swallow does not a summer make’. Tristan agreed and responded by saying that Labour would be making a statement about it in the budget. Whilst I fully understood why he could not tell me what the statement might be, I took away the idea that it may well be more ‘logical incrementalism’ rather than a fundamental reversal of the Brexit mess. He hinted at this saying that he wanted Brexit reversed within his lifetime, however he is around 40 and I am 67! I pointed out that the matter was urgent and important and that death by 1000 ameliorations is still death. Faced in real life with a rapid death over a slow painful one, I’d opt for the rapid one. So it is with Brexit. Labour must act now or face the consequences.
Tristan then tried to punt the idea to me that the EU had said that we could not return until the threat of Farage had passed, meaning post 2029 at the earliest. I re-rehearsed the arguments that we had previously: This would be too late for a host of reasons explained in Reboot Britain. I also pointed out that what matters is putting in the application, not the end of the process. Frankly this was the part of the conversation I did not believe, since the EU have stated publicly that they would welcome us back on many occasions. See political capital in Reboot Britain.
Tristan’s answer reminded me of a teenager wanting to ask a girl out but does not want to get a no !! This was the least believable part of our dialogue and I don’t know what purpose Tristan thought it might serve, given my knowledge, skills and experience.
We went on to discuss the optics of Reform UK and agreed about a lot of that. It was a cordial and intelligent dialogue and I thank him for it. I explained that I’d given a keynote at MP Sadik Al-Hassan’s town hall meeting on Brexit and it turned out that he and Tristan are good friends. All in all a valuable ‘brief encounter’. I’d had a similar meeting with my Labour MP Naushabah Khan recently and she dropped similar hints that Labour would be more bold. I’d welcome it.
The only good Brexit is a dead Brexit.
Zac attack
I also had a great encounter with Medway Greens and was asked why I had not joined them. I stated that I was still considering standing a cat for election locally in 2027, perhaps a green cat … What was most interesting was that there was broad agreement that Zac Polanski was a force for good in terminating the rise of the far right in Britain.
Dem Libs
The Lib Dems led the charge in terms of marshalling people at the event. I have explained to Mark Pack that since Labour are on the move re Brexit, it is time for the Lib Dems to recalibrate their position on Brexit to move the Overton Window. I do hope that they don’t miss the boat on this.
Helen Maguire for Epsom.
The local Lib Dem still sees my cat as an existential threat to the survival of the Lib Dems. Amazing !!
Side note: I asked a policemen early on, had they (UKIP – UK I Pee) urinated? – he seemed confused and a little disturbed. until I pointed out that this was the key metric which would determine their eventual departure back to Wetherspoons. Youth and inexperience !!
I am a regular attendee of open mic jam sessions where I live in Kent and use them to keep my musical skills up. But just recently I was told of a session being organised by the alt right wing and, in particular by two characters, both of whom I’d had some previous encounters with. This article concerns a chap by the name of Kes, who told me he went to prison (for drugs I think) during which time he learned to use knives and so on. I met him a few years back. He told me his hard luck story of drugs, knives and prison, explained that he was trying to get back on his feet and offered to fix my guitars for cash.
Fast forward a few years and Kes began messaging me about the open mic jam session. He knows my views on the far right and the pathetic flagshagging that is sweeping the country at the moment. He also knows that I would not attend a session organised by the far right, as they use them to recruit young vulnerable people. Nonetheless, full marks for trying. Kes quickly became threatening. Here is the transcript in time order. It all began from my observation that he was using the union jack as the backdrop for his advert. Kes makes it very clear that he is going to share the conversation – a veiled threat that others will be “looking out for me” in the local area. It’s only fair to repay the compliment …. Transparency is the best disinfectant.
Prepare for a lengthy diatribe. The comments in pale blue are Kes and the ones in dark blue mine.
How it began
Kes rejects all forms of information save for the ones he sources himself. This is typical of the hardcore Brexit supporters. It makes them particularly unappealing candidates for informed conversations. See also Our Jools.
The obsession with rape is of course palpable. But I refuse to debate parts of a problem as it only allows them to dig deeper down a rabbit hole. It remains a fact that the vst majority of rapes are committed by white English people, and many are known to their victims.
The video above is one suggesting that Ukraine started the war with Russia !!
Now quoting Katie Hopkins as a reliable journalist …
I’m still confused as the plethora of unanswered questions that this stream of consciousness raises. Kes’ anger at his situation is palpable. The refusal to accept the work of media outlets makes it virtually impossible for me to get any further with him, as he refuses to accept facts over his feelings, exaccerbated by Tik Tok videos.
That said, the work still needs to be done. Nigel Farage preys on people like Kes and he seems to be keen to do the same.
The image of Robert Jenprick, shadow Justice Secretary at the header of this post illustrates the belief that far right flagshagging is considered a vote winner. It is not a victimless crime. See our report on the abuse of women and children by such people.
I do feel sorry for Kes given what he told me of his health conditions, none of which were apparent when I last encountered him. Given the level of threats made and one or two doubts I have regarding his story, I am not in the mood to want to help him. His abuse and dismissal of me is forgettable. As my dad used to say “Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you”.
I remain extremely concerned that Kes seems to be planning to be a counsellor which requires considerable moral courage and other skills. He is of course right that education is supposed to be about how to think, rather than what to think, yet I see little independent thought in this diatribe.
Above all else, this once again demonstrates the poverty of online dialogue as a means of talking people down from ingrained beliefs about Brexit, Europe, Politics and populism. See also the recent close encounter with someone obsessed with stopping the boats.
The poverty of Online Brexorcisms. Click image to read the book.
I am now taking a long break from Kes, having gathered some basic data on his life, motives, fears and fantasies. Serious mindset change cannot happen without a series of face to face encounters and, given his threats of violence and his intention to ‘dox’ me, I cannot proceed.
Off to eat a Swan in a bap for breakfast …. and to read about how Brexit was backed by Putin as part of a longer plan to destroy the west. Of course, Kes won’t believe this, as it’s on the BBC, New York Times, Guardian, Politico, yada yada.
Postscript
Kes continues to send unverified bollocks made by people who have a phone and a voice. I am no longer replying, having gathered sufficient intelligence for Kent Police who have taken an interest in the cell structure of far right agit-populism. His final assault is included for amusement and or pity, depending on your point of view. Since Kes insists on telling others in the area of my details, I should make it known that the last time a far right agitator committed criminal damage and knife crime, he had to pay £3500 for his sins. The rate has gone up since 2023 …. fill your boots …
I'm pleased to say that I took the person who did this to court after the police bungled the case (he was an ex policeman). He has been fined £3000 for malicious communications, criminal damage and the use of a knife
Full Disclosure : I’m no fan of Keir Starmer’s Labour Government, but the far right and their media hoods just hounded out the best person to lead the Labour party. I’m sure there is a parallel in Nazi Germany … answers on a postcard please.
Angela Rayner’s departure was voluntary, but I’d be sure that Starmer would have pushed her to save his skin in the end, due to media pressure, and cat calls from Farage’s fascist followers. It is a testament to Starmer’s weakness as a leader, running in FOF (Fear of Farage). Morgan McSweeney’s name (The Dominic Cummings of Labour) also turns up again in the frame.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Hunt ‘forgot’ that he owned 7 homes. Matt Hancock forgot the £37 Bn COVID Ponzi scheme, Boris Johnson ‘forgot’ that he killed 30 000 people unnecessarily, The Truss gambled £70 Bn of OUR money on fantasy economics, Zahawi experienceed £4.8 million in “tax amnesia” whilst heating his horses. NF’s accountancy skills seem rather dodgy … Dido Harding, Michelle Mone, the list goes on ….. These are willful crimes, yet none were held to account.
Angela Rayner’s case is different on two counts (a) Proportionality and (b) Willfulness. I’m sure lots of people would think that £40 000 is a lot, but go compare with the eye watering sums trousered by the Tories. Secondly, unlike the Tories, Angela admitted the mistake and apologised. She was hung out to dry based on her open-ness, misogyny and because she came from a council house ‘oop north’, disguised as a gap between standards expected by leaders and the rest of us. And nobody mentions Rayner’s disabled son, who she set up a trust fund for to care for him after her death. Shameful behaviour by all who have hounded her.
Many of the Reform pack hounds probably contribute to the estimated UK tax gap for 2021-2022 of £36 billion, an increase from £32 billion in 2019-2020. Pure hypocrisy, but that is the operating system of Reform UK 2.0.
Meanwhile Keir pivots further to the far right by appointing Shabama Mahmood as Home Secretary. And Farage says prepare for an election in 2027 as yet another magic spell to fool his followers. Do remember that Governments don’t step down just because things go badly. Theresa May, Liz Tuss, Rishi Sunak were not elected by the public. I assume that Nigel thinks his followers will find him out (or possibly die in some cases) by 2029, hence his call for a 2027 election.
This is a failure of Keir Starmer and his cabal. I have to say that they deserve to get Reform UK. The need for a national conversation about A Better Britain has never been greater. I started this in North Somerset, but it need to be mainstreamed. I think it may now be too late …
Oh, yes, and just apply to Rejoin the EU. £140 bn pa would go a long way to dealing with Britain’s problems.
Paul Higgins (London for Europe) disagrees with me and in the spirit of diversity, I have published his reply below.
And just for some bizarre context, a Blue Sky person who identifies as a Marmousette eviscerated me online for quoting a Travis song as the title of this article (without reading it), stating that my title was misogynistic. I asked him / her to explain but the ran off claiming that I was bullying them … oh well.
I like Angela Rayner. See our latest article on her demise. As some who started life in a council house, who pulled myself up by my bootstraps, with a wife from Manchester, I identify with Angela’s straight talk on many things. I was therefore even more dismayed to hear her spinning myths and lies on LBC this week about Brexit. Angela came up with many of the Brexiteer arguments in this interview. Here are some of her ‘whoppers’.
The will of the people must be respected
Horseshit. We are fast approaching the point where 70% of people in Britain believe that Brexit has failed. Angela appears not understand that democracy is NOT a project. It is a process. She would not even be an MP if democracy were a project as women would not have a vote or be able to participate in society. We would be more like Saudi Arabia under Angela’s view of democracy.
We can’t just rejoin
Bollocks. Whilst it’s true that all takes time, the only thing preventing us from starting the process is a backbone in politics. Read our article on the matter at Byline Times.
I met with four Labour Councillors campaigning in my area on Sunday. All said they fundamentally disagreed with the exec. Are they prepared to do anything about it? Of course not. We need ‘different’ and not more of the same. What matters is the beginning of the journey, not the end point.
We can’t rejoin on the same terms
This was perhaps Angela’s cleverest deception. By not being specific, she allowed people to fill in the dots by themselves … for example “oh we’ll lose the pound, Shengen, pints”, and many other myths put forward by the Brexiteers. These feed the Labour project fear narrative and Angela should really know better.
It is true that Old Albion will need to learn some appropriate humility as part of the joining process, instead of the English exceptionalism which characterised the Brexit vote. However, it is unwise to place more constraints in the way of success than is necessary before negotiations begin. When I reflect on the conversation I observed with Barnier, I know that rejoining is possible. Yes, it will be difficult and everything will be on the table. If Britain decided that it must keep the pound for example, I’m sure it would be considered. Since all is a trade, the EU may come with some other things we may have to move on to keep the pound, perhaps in the finance domain, perhaps an asymmetric trade-off. For example, we have just seen concessions on Northern Ireland traded with changes to the Erasmus scheme. Nonetheless, what we must do is establish the principle of rejoining and political will to do so. Once that is secured, we must then leave the negotiators to do the work, as we did in the Brexit negotiations. See our book on Rejoining the EU.
