I wrote this piece a while back when it became clear that the Labour government wasn’t going to acknowledge the mess that Brexit has left the country, and then planning on doing something about it.  

It’s been more than eight years since the UK voted to leave the European Union, and the country remains tangled in the wreckage of that decision. Those who championed Brexit—promising economic renewal, restored sovereignty, and an end to Brussels’ supposed meddling—have either slunk away from public life or now conveniently blame everything, but Brexit itself, for the country’s dismal state. Meanwhile, the UK economy limps along, its political class is in shambles, and its global standing is diminished.

Let’s start with the economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has repeatedly confirmed that Brexit has shaved at least 4% off the UK’s GDP—a staggering hit equivalent to the cost of COVID-19, but without the excuse of a global pandemic. Investment has stalled, businesses struggle with trade barriers, and the labour market is in disarray. The much-touted trade deals—supposedly the jewels of an independent Britain—have been underwhelming at best. The Australia deal, for example, was so lopsided that even its Conservative architect, George Eustice, admitted it was a mistake.

Meanwhile, Britain’s political leadership is paralysed by the Brexit-induced culture war that still defines Tory policy. Rishi Sunak, the latest in a conveyor belt of weak Conservative prime ministers, finds himself hostage to the hard-right fringes of his party, who still cling to Brexit as a nationalist totem. Labour, under Keir Starmer, tiptoes around the issue, unwilling to reopen old wounds but acutely aware that Brexit is a disaster.

And then there’s Northern Ireland. The supposed “solution” to the Brexit border dilemma—the Windsor Framework—hasn’t ended unionist resentment or calmed the waters. Businesses in Northern Ireland enjoy a unique advantage of dual access to UK and EU markets, but politically, the province remains deeply fractured. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) continues to throw tantrums over Brexit’s impact, while the broader UK-EU relationship remains one of managed hostility rather than genuine partnership.

In short, Britain is poorer, politically broken, and increasingly irrelevant on the world stage. The great post-Brexit “Global Britain” experiment has failed, leaving a country adrift, governed by a party unable to admit its mistakes and an opposition too cautious to offer real alternatives. And yet, despite mounting evidence of economic self-harm, Brexit remains a political third rail. No major party dares to say what most people now quietly accept: Brexit was a colossal error, and the UK is paying the price.