Labour must rethink Brexit if elected - Andrew Marr | Election 2024 | The New Statesman 

I'm a Malaysian working in Singapore. Both countries are in the Commonwealth and have millions of investment in the UK but most, if not all of them were prior to Brexit. This was due to the familiarity of the language, laws, culture and much more due to being former colonies of the British. In short, we were used to the British and found it easier to invest in the UK because of that, and as a gateway into the EU. Post-Brexit, businesses here are concentrating on investments in the EU directly, and bypassing the UK, despite the different legal systems and languages. Oh, and Malaysia and Singapore are part of ASEAN (Association of South-East Asia Nations), which aspires to integrate their economies like the EU. As for the Brexiter's dream or aspiration of becoming a Singapore-on-Thames, well, Singaporeans are more pragmatic and realistic than Brexiters. They had to be in order to create the modern and successful Singapore that Brexiters want to emulate. Ask them if they want to exit ASEAN or exit the EU if they were part of it, the answer would be a resounding NO. Almost everybody here that I talked to about Brexit thought that it was financial and business suicide for the British. And most if not all, put it down to the UK harking back to the days of the British Empire. It wasn't helped by the fact that many Brexiter politicians and businessmen thought that the Commonwealth and the World would gladly trade with the UK on an individual basis. Why should they? And what advantage is there to trading with the UK when it is not a gateway into the EU? Business is business, and it would always look at the bottom line. Brexiters seemed to have forgotten that, or totally ignored it altogether.

There better be a more significant change to the way Council Tax is paid. Forcing renters to pay more, based on the value of a property they don't even own, is horribly regressive.

Great to hear from the only optimist in the country…let’s hope he’s right

How refreshing! I suddenly feel we may have something to look forward to in this country. Maybe not reverse Brexit, but forge a better relationship with our neighbours and stop them hating us so much. Please DO NOT VOTE TORY

It is true that the right-wing gained some ground in the EU elections but the 2 (Social-) Democratic EU factions are still a large majority: EEP 186 seats, S&D 133 seats. By comparison: Right-wing ID (Wilders and Le Pen) 60 seats (gained 10) and ECR (Meloni, PiS, VOX) 70 seats (gained 1). Not enough to shake up the status quo in a *720* seat European Parliament. the EP will function as it did before.

I think it is easy for people in the UK to misunderstand what is happening in the EU. Firstly the EU, In terms of population, is huge. It has about 440 million people - almost the same as the populations of the USA (330m) and the Russian Federation ( 150m ) combined. Secondly most EU countries have a plethora of parties. The tendancy has been that the far right unite under a single banner, while the centre and left remain fragmented. In the EU elections in France, for example, the Rassemblement National got the most MEP's of any party - but only got around 30% of the vote. Also the rise of RN has been largely fueled by the decline of another right wing party, namely Les Républicans. The rise of the right therefore is not as dramatic as the English media would have you believe. Anti Americanism is on the rise in most of Europe. The concept of US hegemony and a bipolar world order is being challenged ( à la Charles de Gaulle ). Brexit and the war in Ukraine will draw the EU together; so Marr's concept of a looser EU is probably mistaken. This then raises the question of whether the EU would want America's poodle back in the fold ? This is probably why the Tories and Labour are avoiding the subject of Brexit - attempts at rejoining might get a resounding 'non ! '.

Let's not forget that the Reform candidate who said we should have appeased Hitler in 1939 is putting forward the same arguments that Lord Halifax and Neville Chamberlain used to try and force Churchill to do a deal with the Germans in 1940.

Have to laugh at 'Brussels bureaucrats'. When will Brits finally let go of that tired and false cliche?

Mr Marr does not understand the EU. What is happening on the Right in Europe, with the exception of the AfD and Fidez, is not a rejection of closer union, but an embracing of closer union as the best way of implementing Right-wing policies on immigration, trade protection, defence, security etc, a sort of European nationalism in fact, albeit nativist, not liberal. This will be very difficult for Britain, if it is combined with a similar agenda in the US. But this new nativist European nationalism on the Right in the EU is still held in check by the liberal centralisers of the Centre-Right, Centre and Centre-Left. Belief in a shared European identity is the same process which created the nation-states of Europe in the past: a volatile combination of nativism and liberalism. Far from being a haven of stability, the UK has already been crushed by its extremism through doing Brexit, far more than anything contemplated by the European Right (or Left). Moreover, the measures he suggest to create a "softer" Brexit will simply not be available to the UK to any degree that will move the dial on growth here. And the corrosive effects of Brexit, political, economic, social and cultural, including upon our own shared national identity, in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and London, will continue or even intensify. The only response to this is to rejoin the EU, in full, with all that will entail: something neither our purely British liberalis, in Labour, even with a huge majority (but no clear mandate for anything), let alone our British nativists in a Reform captured Conservative Party seem remotely able to even contemplate..

I’m pretty optimistic about what Starmer’s Labour will bring in and fix when in power too (and I’m a leftwing lifelong Green Party voter). Hope the Tories end up in third place and not even the opposition.

Coucil tax is horrendous. It can take up to 20 percent of a low paid persons NET pay.

I'm afraid that Labour have neither the vision the will or the ambition to make the necessary changes this country so desperately needs. I hope I'm proven wrong.

Labour DOES need to under-promise now but overdeliver as soon as they possibly can if they want another election victory in 5 years. This is typically what Labour does anyway so I wouldn't be shocked by this. However, they have to be careful not to overstep their bounds on Brexit either. It's a very divisive subject that we still haven't really settled between our friends and families, and it could backfire spectacularly if they started official rejoin talks with the EU in only their first term. Closer alignment, closer relationships, proper agreements, this should be Labour's first 5 year plan of handling the Brexit situation. The second term would then be the point at which Labour, if they win again, would ideally research how the public feels about Brexit after a decade of the 2016 vote has passed. Sad but true fact is a big majority of those that voted Brexit will likely have passed, a big number of those still alive will have changed their minds on it and younger voters who couldnt or didn't care to vote at the time will now have a say on their own futures. That's when the party will need to make the steps towards rejoining, including by introducing electoral reform (PR) to effectively shut out the Tories who might not change their mind on Brexit. That will help the EU's trust in us to not leave again.

Labour must rethink Brexit if elected? Why? It’s obvious that the English still aren’t facing reality. You don’t even discuss the ‘basics’ needed to apply to the EU again. Sadly, this election won’t change anything.

The swing to the Right in the EU elections is exaggerated. The composition of the EU Parliament will not greatly change as a result of these elections, but it is true that far-right parties have had success. But only in the EU Parliament elections not in national elections where the governments of the states involved is decided. UKIP did very well in the UK's last participation in EU Parliament elections in 2019, but that was a protest vote. The same has happened in 2024. National elections are very different as, in many ways, they 'matter more' than EU Parliamentary elections. I doubt there is support for hard-right, RN-style governments in most parts of Europe. I expect the French Right, especially the RN, will not do as well as they expect in the national elections in France in June. I can't imagine the French electing a majority led by Le Pen or the Germans electing a majority AfD government. So the general noise that Reform in the UK is a force to be reckoned with is most likely an exaggeration. In the end, people will want more 'sensible' politicians than opportunist charlatans like Farage, Le Pen or similar...

Whatever Starmer thinks about re-entering the EU, the EU won't even think about negotiating until and unless the Conservatives support a re-entry bid. For Britain to re-enter and then leave when the Conservatives win an election-forget it, no EU member would accept that

There is no rethinking brexit, the later you join the EU, the less power you have, and that was always an issue from before, if you want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, keep talking about it.

10:55 Why are we surprised that a candidate for the british nazi party said something pro hitler? No Andrew, farage uses the asthetic of patriotism regarding WW2 but he is an ethnonationalist, many of his views and talking points are directly taken from the nazi talking points.

in regards to the extreme right, Britain is simply ahead of the curve of much of Europe. It has had its extremist moment and now the great british public have had a nasty shock.

Marr forgets his interview with John Major and how often during the referendum he peddled on the edge of leave in the face of blatantly false narratives on the benefits of Brexit. Now he, like Andrew Neil want to act innocent on the fact that they enabled the Tories to get us into this mess in the first place. Demanding Labour to make a move on Brexit is laughable.

I hope Andrew is right, but with Reeves at the helm, I won't hold my breath. Reeves' "Modern Supply Side Economics" = the same failed economic orthodoxy we've had for decades.

Yes, if Labour get a big majority it should have a referendum about reversing Brexit. Only problem is would the EU want us back?

3/4 of Europe is not France & Germany. This is a European-wide election. Centre-Left, Centre & Centre-Right MEPs have a super majority (3/5) in the EU Parliament. If the Left votes against the Far-Right, that super majority turns into an absolute (4/5) majority. The Far-Right went up by 9 MEPs.

Andrew Marr is a typical remainer. Brexit is leaving the institutions of the EU including single market, customs Union, European courts etc. To say otherwise is disingenuous.

Andrew Marr seems to be confusing the European Union with just France and Germany. There are 27 countries in the EU, and the vast majority did not lurch to the extreme right.

Oh for God's sake just get over it and move on! I voted remain but this is just pathetic. We voted it happened.. "Rejoining" is such a misnomer. You are not going to be rejoining on the previous terms, you will be joining on worse terms! Would be completely idiotic. So i can absolutely see labour doing it...

Absolutely not they have no mandate for that. The EU is imploding and we have already been through the pain. We are well off out of it.

It takes an almost impossible level of optimism to be excited by Starmer's Labour being in power.

I just registered to postal vote from overseas. First time in 25 years... And I only did it to vote for ReformUK. Enough of these people, time for Reform....

Who's Andrew marr to say this. BBC got rid of him because he talks rubbish..!

All of the polling about rejoining includes people wrongly assuming we'd simply be reverting to pre-brexit conditions, this is far from the truth. Rejoining would, for instance, include embracing the Euro currency. Include that in the polling and there's no way this country is rejoining.

I have to say I enjoy Andrew Marr's contributions here much more useful than I ever did when he was at the BBC. One gets the impression that here he is able to give us a proper view of what's actually going on at the root of things. And he also, always, digs out little facts (for example his comments about various Reform candidates/members) which you just don't see/hear elsewhere. Thanks very much.

Rethink Brexit? It happened. Best to work on our problems which we had while still in the EU and still have. Magically rejoining the EU will not solve those problems

Raising council tax on the middle class in south east England is just another way of destroying aspiration and ambition. The raid on private schools is another example. In Britain, we now have a depleted middle class just like the US and Brazil etc. Labour has nothing new to offer Brits. Just more tax on working people. The EU is falling apart. Immigration is costing Britain a fortune. 10 million more people since Blair came to power in 1997. Andrew Marr is ok. His savings from his BBC salary and current jobs will see him ok. Notice how the New Statesman is pro mass migration and never offers solutions to help young people get in the housing market unless they talk about taxing working Brits! At least Farage speaks to the interests of British taxpayers. Labour will destroy the economy and all the people who can leave will leave!

The thing is, we know the electorate is more volatile than ever before. So a big Labour majority doesn't guarantee a second election victory. Remember, Attlee in 1945 was booted out of power by the Tories in 1951.

I respect Andrew Marr, but he suffers from British exceptionalism. In a recent - and this one - video he said that the UK was an 'outlier' escaping the right-wing surge in Europe. Do the names Patel, Braverman, Lee Anderson, Farage, etc. not ring a bell? In this video he repeats the Sun's view of the EU as being gripped by extremists. In most countries the far-right has similar poll ratings as Reform. And as for France and Germany, they haven't suffered years of right-wing populism, as in the uk. Enough of the smug exceptionalism, please!

They will be a total disaster

In 2019, the Conservatives won a landslide victory over Labour because they didn't trust labour with Brexit, so voters reluctantly pinned their hopes on the Conservatives. Labour is currently only relatively more popular than the Conservatives: Labour hasn't suddenly grown in popularity, it is just the collapse of the Conservatives due to their abject failure to meaningfully implement Brexit. Labour will, of course, be in a position to abuse their majority to do what they will with Brexit, but I'd imagine what they try to do with Brexit will be the dominant factor in how unpopular they are in elections from that point onward.

I'm a Reform voter, and I love these discussions. Intelligent perceptive questions, and brilliant pithy and witty analysis. I think Andrew is on to something - people are so sick if dishonest floppy government, that by being radical, decisive, true, even righties like me, might have a grudging respect for a Labour government.

We’re at the highest tax burden for years and you think this is a great opportunity to squeeze more money out of people? How much more do you think people can take? They spent their share of the tax take when they called for more lock downs. Time to tighten the belts and pay down our dept. Reduce the size of the state, it’s suffocating us.

I can't see a reason to think Starmer's Labour are going to be any better than the Tories. He's no principles beyond getting elected. People are only voting Labour because they want the tories out, not because they're giving any hope for the future

Not everyone in the South of England is well off.Putting up Council Tax might seem fairer but there are a good proportion of us that can’t really afford what they pay in CT now let alone a big rise. It really is time to pull the country together and not split it up into us up into us and them.

Oh dear... To start, the EU is not in the slightest bit interested in custom deals, they are sick of them, some 200 agreements with Switzerland for example. And there's a bunch of hurdles already for re-joining the EU (or even for closer ties with the EU) - including crappy trade deals that would have to be re-negotiated. Think 10-15 years alone as Australia digs in its heels as they want to send hormone laden frozen beef to the UK. Australia will leverage the hold over the UK to get themselves a cracking EU deal.

I'm an optimist like Andrew Marr! Keep telling everyone at work that trade with the EU is going to improve soon.... I AM holding my breath! We NEED change 🥳

If i thought Labour would rejoin or just join the single market id reconsider voting for them....

I don't see how anyone can blame Brexit for the issues our country currently faces when: 1. Our economy is currently doing better than the majority of the EU at the moment 2. Just a few short months after Brexit, we went through the pandemic and lockdown, which ruined global supply chains and shrank the economy of most countries in the world 3. Just a few weeks after lockdown was finally ended for good, we got the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, which once again caused huge damage to global supply chains, shrank the economies of most European countries and triggered an energy crisis which we are still experiencing to this day 4. The worst and most corrupt government in British history has been in charge the entire time we've experienced being a country outside of the European Union. A government who has betrayed almost every one of the promises of the Brexit campaign when they absolutely had the ability to honour them. I don't see how you can look at these facts, how you could've lived through all of this and then say "Nah Brexit is the issue we need to get back into the EU it will fix all our issues". It won't fix them. The EU is still the same undemocratic institution with no respect for national sovereignty and it will continue to be for many decades. We are still better off out of the EU.

Brexit has been a disaster for the UK, and an approach by a new Labour Government to vastly improve ties and trading links with Europe would be a wise move.

Much as I hated Brexit. I don't think the EU wants us back. For now we have to wait for the dust to settle maybe some day we could get back but the Tories created so much bad will in Europe they just laugh atus . Brexit cost the EU too.

Lord protect the UK from both Labour and Conservative.

Get elected first. That is the goal. When in power, highlight the issues of Brexit and paint it in a bad light as it has been. It is a shackle on the British economy.

Labour need to be bold, Change the voting system, Reform the HOL, ensure that MPs and Minister's are accoutable? Move power away from Westminister..Bring some of the conservative;s to account. Get rid of the corruption... We need radial change.... and stop this stupidity of Immigration blaming...move to realpolitiK

What I like about Brexit is the Tories no longer had anyone to blame for their mismanagement of the country

Very flattering comment about Nigel Farage! In Scotland we see him as an evil, far right opportunist. And downright ugly into the bargain.

America started it with Trump, UK followed with Johnson, now Europe follows. Normality restores itself as the clowns are found out.

'Rethink Brexit' would be phase 1. Getting the majority of the UK's electorate on board in agreeing that Brexit was a mistake is phase 2. Getting the UK's economic and political stats up to par with meeting the Copenhagen Criteria will be phase 3. Getting all 27 EU nations on board in wanting an ex-member with a questionable reputation back into the EU fold will be phase 4. Time-frame: 20-30 years. At least. And also very much depending on how long it will take the UK electorate to accept reality regarding former UK opt-outs and rebates: those are gone. No more cherry-picking, the UK's either all in, or stays out.

Scrap Leashold. I pay 2k in Leashold charges. I would be quite happy to spend an extra 1k a year on council tax while getting rid of the Leashold charge

'Labour must rethink Brexit if elected' Why if they manage to get into power without even mentioning Brexit?? The most important thing about Brexit, which the UK has to learn, is that they do not have any initiative at all when it comes to their relation to EUrope. Out means out!

I think the commentators do not realise that Europe is more than right thinking or left thinking. It is about the openness of European people towards eachother..It is about the wonderful standard of living that they enjoy it is about the open mindedness they possess, it is about the lack of wanting for a good sustainable life. Time to realise England is about narrow mindedness, lack of broad minded and inclusive thinking. Poverty ,need,suspicion, poor living standards and poverty not seen in the rest of Europe for quite a long time. I am an English man writing this from Europe and having lived in many European lands, I know first hand not from a junk right wing newspaper

The realistic chances of rejoining the EU are practically nil. I say that with sadness, but convincing the UK electorate to accept the Euro, freedom of movement, Schengen is going to be impossible. It may happen 20 years down the line when the younger generation have more sway, but not in the next 5 to 10 years. Many are still going to hold their noses when they vote Labour at this election, rather than with any great enthusiasm. Labour know this and will not want to rock the boat in their first term, which a referendum would do.

The EU is falling apart. Other countries want out but in the UK people think it is a good idea to rejoin. They seriously need to wake up!!

Hope you are right Andrew.

I agree with Andrew Narr with his optimism. I think a Labour Government will be a lot more social democratic and radical than people think,

Let's all hope for a referendum on rejoining the EU in the second Labour term.

Andrew your faith in Labour is staggering the public who you never listen to have them figured. Listening to the sanctimony of Creasy yesterday she’s cemented it.

*I DONT LIKE STARMER* but he is a strategic genius - HE brought down Bojo over 18 months, HE let Sunak tie himself to the £2,000 whilst having a letter that proved it a LIE Maybe its wishful thinking, but I cant imagine he is going all this very long term strategic planning to get into power - but does NOT actually have a grand plan for when he gets there, We will all find out shortly.

Europe being accused isolationism when they have free travel between their borders is too much. They are not turning isolationist between themselves but the out of side of europe which in my opinion is fair enough.

Why do you think the EU would want the UK back?

The eu falling apart at the seams and you are advising labour must rethink brexit pathetic

Brexit is done. You are out, you got your way. There will be no new agreement just because you have a new PM, of which you have had 5 since the Brexit referendum.

When will these people understand we voted for Brexit.we don,t want Europe ,it would not be a good idea,Europe is a mess

I would suggest that the UK is also going to have a swing to the right u less immigration and parallel societies are addressed. The drivers in Europes turn to the right are all about an eroding welfare system, rising crime and rising Islamist visibility. So if labour don’t address immigration head on, don’t resist increasing crime and go full intersectionality (like recognising Palestine and altering UK foreign policy) - then after 5 years - a reconstituted national conservative Tory party will come back. . . Labour has to avoid going cosmopolitan elite and address the needs of working class British interests in order to stay in power - and this may be impossible.

I hope labour do that too, that way Reform are guaranteed to win in 29 👍

The EU has already said they are not interested in changing the current relationship with the UK given the red lines both the Tories and Labour have on the issue. Additionally, both the EU-where the majority in the EU Parliament will remain the same for at least the next 5 years-and the USA, as well as the entire world, to be frank, are becoming more protectionist, not less. The UK isn't part of either single market, meaning it's going to be more difficult to trade with both markets, not less. Brexit was a bet on the world becoming less protectionist trade-wise, not more. It couldn't have come at a worse time in history.

I don’t believe Labour will do anything different to what they always have. Starma and his Liebours only know how to do one thing…..! Tax success. Let’s see what the Manfesto says… however I bet tax raises are disproportionately applied. So success will be penalised.

Expose the elephant in the room!! NO GrOWTH with Brexit

…and yet when you look at the election results for the European Parliament the center right is still the biggest group, working together with other centrist parties and not the extremes. Too much panicking.

All we here about is how Labour will take and destroy peoples wealth How about for once coming with way to create wealth rather than destroy it

Andrew Marr comes across as being a little arrogant and patronising sometimes and I do not think he realises it. I also find his political views a little dated now. He was good in his heyday but I think it's time now to have somebody younger and hear their take on things. I think people like him are the reason young people are losing interest in politics. I voted to remain during Brexit, but I have finally got used to the idea it has happened. When he talks about Brexit he sounds like a guy who’s wife cheated on him and he cannot let it go and brings it up at every opportunity. The last thing we need at the moment with all our challenges we face is to go back and open that can of worms… Lets have somebody younger and more positive please.

Andrew’s comments on a Brexit are that of a Remoaner. Why, well he ignores the fact that Teressa May agreed to things that could not be changed by Boris. He also ignore the MP’s who ignored the will of the majority in all parties that made it difficult for a proper deal. I find his analysis very personal and forgetful of facts. He also does not mention the residence my the civil services. It is this, those MP’s and Civil Servants that have damaged the benefits of Brexit. He also ignore that we are doing better than the Eurozone. I could go on but this should be enough.

“I’m not sneering”. You absolutely were sneering. You can’t help yourself Andrew.

The brexit Paradox is that any govt capable of delivering brexit wouldn't. The brexit reality is that voters shrewd enough to decode brexit would reject it. Result - an inept/venal govt conned a majority of gullible/deluded electors. The brexit tragedy is that it will take years to recover from it

After the UK have voted for a hard Brexit 3 times, I'd be very careful going back on that

I'm fed up with this 'Britain wants a looser relationship' with Europe nonsense. Only the (elderly) Brexiters want that. Young people are very open to a close, all-in, relationship with Europe.

Will never vote Labour .Labour will let all migrants in and build houses on green belts for them. Tax/benifits will rise.NO NO

The question that the UK should ask itself is whether the EU would actually wants it back. It should be odd that this question isn't on the radar, but it isn't (I've been around the UK enough to know that many Brits think of themselves as a gift to humanity 🙂).

I am excited about the next labour government as well 🙂

Salut Andrew, 
Yes the right wing political parties performed very well in the EU parliament elections, which I of course voted in as an Irish EU citizen permanently resident en France. And Macron has startled many folk in the EU and the UK by calling for a general election of the Assembly en France. Many see this as a huge gamble. Of course all political choices are an unpredictable gamble, however Macron is a very clever French politician.


Not many people appreciate this ..... the majority of French adults do not possess a passport. The majority of the French never leave France, even on holiday. The majority of the French population have zero experience of life in any country but France.


It is recorded that in national French opinion polls the French population sincerely believe that they do not enjoy a good life en France, however they have nothing to compare that with. My bon ami Romain is an intelligent educated experienced individual who has travelled on business to the UK and other EU countries. He is well aware via me about life in the UK...... the NHS, the cost of living etc. Yet still he is so typically French and believes La vie en France is not good or satisfactory.


Macron knows the EU parliamentary election are the perfection opportunity for the French to record their protest vote against their government. That election will have minimal effect on their actual lives, however if they vote the same way in the French elections they would be taking a gamble that they always bulk at when considering their future fate. Marine le Pen's party may well do very well, even gaining the majority of seats in the June/July 2024 election. If they gain an actual majority then it is the convention that their party provides the Prime Minister until the next French Presidential election in 2027. That timeframe will allow plenty of opportunity for Marine's party to demonstrate themselves at successfully managing (or not) life en France for the French. They will share the blame for any disappointments for the French population .... and the French always hate the politicians in charge. Come the second round of the Presidential election set for 2027 Marine will loose just as she did in her two previous Presidential elections.


And please note my prediction. In that election she will make it to the second round ...... the French will jamais give up their opportunity to make a protest vote .... it is part of their DNA! 

Also Macron cannot stand for a third term as President. Macron on the world stage has always impressed, however on the domestic front he totally screwed up. He forced through an increase in the age of the retirement laws without allowing it to go to a vote in the Assembly. He continued to exploit this political tactic .... and he will never be forgiven!

Vive La France, Vive La République, Vive Notre Pays Adopte!

RegardsYes the right wing political parties performed very well in the EU parliament elections, which I of course voted in as an Irish EU citizen permanently resident en France. And Macron has startled many folk in the EU and the UK by calling for a general election of the Assembly en France. Many see this as a huge gamble. Of course all political choices are an unpredictable gamble, however Macron is a very clever French politician.


Not many people appreciate that the majority of French adults do not possess a passport. The majority of the French never leave France, even on holiday. The majority of the French population have zero experience of life in any country but France.


It is recorded that in national French opinion polls the French population sincerely believe that they do not enjoy a good life en France, however they have nothing to compare that with. My bon ami Romain is an intelligent educated experienced individual who has travelled on business to the UK and other EU countries. He is well aware via me about life in the UK...... the NHS, the cost of living etc. Yet still he is so typically French and believes La vie en France is not good or satisfactory.


Macron knows the EU parliamentary election are the perfection opportunity for the French to record their "protest vote" against their government. That election will have minimal effect on their actual lives, however if they vote the same way in the French elections they would be taking a gamble that they always bulk at when considering their future fate. Marine le Pen's party may well do very well, even gaining the majority of seats in the June/July 2024 election. If they gain an actual majority then it is the convention that their party provides the Prime Minister until the next French Presidential election in 2027. That timeframe will allow plenty of opportunity for Marine's party to demonstrate themselves at successfully managing (or not) life en France for the French. They will share the blame for any disappointments for the French population .... and the French always hate the politicians in charge. Come the second round of the Presidential election set for 2027 Marine will indeed come through to the second round and then loose as she did in her two previous Presidential elections. And please note my reasoning gained over several years living with the French. In that election she will indeed make it to the second round as that it is still a "protest vote" stage with no real consequences. The French will jamais give up their opportunity to make a "protest vote" .... it is part of their DNA! 

Also Macron cannot stand for a third term as President. Macron on the world stage has always impressed, however on the domestic front he totally screwed up. He forced through an increase in the age of the retirement laws without allowing it to go to a vote in the Assembly. He continued to exploit this political tactic which is totally undemocratic .... and he will never be forgiven!

Vive La France, Vive La République .... et pour ma femme et moi Vive Notre Pays Adopte!

Cordialement Robert 


Sent via BT Email App

Hmm smell the Sovereignty - I can taste the Brexit benefits...

The EU isn't going to negotiate a compex, bespoke new relationship for the UK, and nor should they. We're either going to have to rejoin the Single Market, or the Customs Union, or both. As for the EU moving to the right: it has barely done so, the moderate parties still totally dominate the European parliament. Britain has had 5 years of very right-wing government, & we've learnt a hard lesson: reckless libertarianism is usually corrupt, incompetent, divisive and damaging to our international reputation.

Andrew Marr is in a woke socialist fantasy bubble

The Brexit gang will be demanding that we re-join the EU if Europe really does go hard right. Funny that.

It would be great to have Brexit implemented, as thus far we have had a Conservative Government that has remained wedded to the European Union's right-wing, neo-liberal economic policies and austerity programme, along with the EU's aggressive, neo-colonial foreign policies and contempt for the vast majority of the governments and peoples of the world. Of course, we must never forget the Conservative Party wanted the UK to remain in the EU (even spending £9million of taxpayers' money telling us how we should vote to remain) and only said it would respect our democratic vote to leave the EU at the 2019 General Election to get elected.

Andrew is quite the British establishment gatekeeper at the end.

Your last point; is this because the U.K. has already seen what happens when you are ‘controlled’ by populist right wing leaders & influencers - and has pulled back just in time?

Andrew can be optimistic he is old enough to remember Labour's good old days. It is harder for younger people to know what it was like living in a country with a compassionate government. Times could be hard but even just knowing the governing party really cared just made it easier somehow and the government helped us to help each other.. As soon as the Tories got in they started attacking the vulnerable especially the disabled. We've had a 14 year diet of being told to hate anf blame each other while the rich bled the country dry. Its time to redefine economic success not as a number in pounds but as an economy where the highest number of people feel they have enough to be content with their lives.

Margaret Thatcher was the first world leader to talk about global warming as a serious issue in the late 1980s, she gave a significant speech to the floor of the UN in 1989 and much of what she warned about at that time is coming to pass now. So there is indeed an environmental streak in traditional Tory support, even if the modern headbangers like Sunak, Mogg and co are in the pockets of big oil.

The UK is only just coming out of a hideous, nationalist, right wing phase, having voted in mean spirited, xenophobic, incompetent Tories three times, so I wouldn't get too cocky. Apart from the humiliating dishonesty and incompetence of the Brexit negotiations, the electoral success of the flirtation with nationalistic boobery by the UK may have set some worrying inspirational precedents for the fascists on the continent in the short term. Britain may have helped tip them down the stairs it is just about to start trying to crawl back up itself.

What rubbish. He's talking about an "intermediate relationship" with more access to the EU market and a series of individual agreements with them and not part of the "political structure" of the EU "might be perfect." He must be joking. Hasn't he learned anything from the years of Brexit negotiations? How many times does the EU have to tell people like him? In's in and Out's out. They don't do Cherry Picking. They don't do half-baked deals. They don't do Switzerland type arrangements anymore. There is no A La Carte menu where non members pick the bits they like and leave the ones they don't. Members get all the benefits of membership and outsiders get none. The Brexit deal is in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and it's signed off and finished and the EU has moved on and won't have any appetite for reopening it to accommodate a now regretful ex member.

The bigger the majority the worse for Labour. Brexit would cost a fortune the EU is broke and need money we would have to pay and pay and pay. We need more social housing not joining the EU.

I adore Andrew Marr and his optimism!