Britain Has Left the EU. Why Can’t We Move On?

When I moved to England in 1991, I had no idea that Britain’s relationship with Europe would become one of its most enduring political obsessions.

Over the years, I listened to endless arguments about the European Union. For a long time, it was largely the right demanding that Britain leave. Brussels had too much power, there were too many rules, and Britain needed to take back control of its own affairs.

Eventually, in 2016, the British people voted to leave. We formally departed in 2020.

I supported leaving. I am a Brexiteer, and I have no desire to take Britain back into the European Union.

Yet here we are, years later, and the argument continues. The voices have changed, but the obsession remains. Having spent years listening to those who wanted out, I now hear an increasingly familiar refrain from those who want us back in.

And I find myself asking: Why are we still having this argument?

Surely, by now, we should be looking forward rather than continually revisiting the same decision. We made a choice. We left. Whatever one thinks of Brexit, the question now should be how Britain makes the most of its position outside the EU.

Instead, too much of our political conversation seems to revolve around whether we should find a way back.

Have we really become so incapable of imagining a future outside the European Union? Or have we simply forgotten that cooperation and membership are two different things?

Europe is our neighbour, not our destiny

Let me be clear: I am not arguing that Britain should turn its back on Europe. That would be absurd.

Europe is our neighbour. We have deep economic, cultural, historical and security ties. We should trade with European countries, cooperate with them and maintain constructive relationships with their governments. Where our interests coincide, we should work together.

But cooperation is not the same as membership.

We trade with countries across the world without joining their political institutions. We negotiate agreements, build partnerships and pursue mutual interests while retaining responsibility for our own decisions.

Why should Europe be different?

I understand that the EU is more than a conventional trading bloc. Membership brings access to arrangements that are difficult to replicate from outside, and leaving has introduced additional barriers in some areas. These are real considerations.

But the existence of those challenges does not automatically make rejoining the right answer. Nor does it mean that the only way to have a productive relationship with our neighbours is to place ourselves once again within their shared political and regulatory framework.

We left for reasons that mattered to millions of people. Those reasons should not simply be forgotten because the practical business of independence has proved complicated.

Independence comes with responsibilities

Leaving the EU was not supposed to mean that every problem would disappear overnight. Nor did it mean that Britain could simply declare itself independent and expect the world to rearrange itself around us.

Independence requires work. It requires competent government, sound economic policy, effective negotiation and a willingness to make difficult choices. It requires us to build relationships, seek new opportunities and take responsibility for the consequences of our decisions.

If our trading arrangements need improvement, improve them. If businesses need greater certainty, provide it. If cooperation on security, research or other shared priorities would benefit Britain, pursue it.

But let us do these things because they serve the national interest, not because every improvement is being presented as another step towards reversing Brexit.

A decision to leave should be followed by a serious effort to make leaving work. Otherwise, we risk spending years debating the decision rather than building on it.

Must every road lead back to Brussels?

What troubles me most is the apparent inability of parts of our political establishment to accept that Britain can have a future outside the EU.

There is a difference between recognising that a relationship could be improved and assuming that the solution must eventually be membership again.

One approach asks: what can we achieve, and how can we achieve it?

The other begins with a preferred destination and looks for reasons to return there.

I would rather see Britain approach Europe from the first position. We should be pragmatic, confident and willing to negotiate. We should pursue agreements that benefit our people and businesses. We should be prepared to compromise where compromise makes sense, without losing sight of the fact that we are responsible for our own choices.

That is not hostility towards Europe. It is a belief that a country can be a good neighbour without being a member of the same union.

And surely there is a wider world to consider? Britain has relationships and opportunities across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. Our future should not be defined solely by an endless debate about our relationship with one institution.

Leaving the EU was an opportunity to think more broadly about Britain’s place in the world. We should not squander that opportunity by allowing our national conversation to become a permanent argument about whether we should reverse course.

Time to move forward

I appreciate that not everyone agrees with me. Some people believe Brexit was a mistake; others believe closer integration would bring economic and practical benefits. They are entitled to make their case.

But I am equally entitled to ask when we will stop treating the referendum as a decision that can never be allowed to stand.

We voted to leave. We left. It is now our responsibility to make that decision work as well as possible.

I do not want a Britain that is isolated, inward-looking or needlessly confrontational towards its neighbours. I want a Britain that is confident enough to cooperate without assuming that cooperation requires membership, and ambitious enough to build relationships around the world without constantly looking backwards.

Being independent does not mean doing everything alone. It means retaining the ability and responsibility to decide what is in our interests, and then having the competence to act on those decisions.

We should work with Europe where it makes sense. We should trade with Europe where it benefits us. We should maintain good relations with our neighbours.

But we do not need to rejoin the European Union to do any of those things.
I voted to leave, and I stand by that decision.

Britain has left the EU. Surely it is time we stopped asking how to get back in and started concentrating on what we intend to do with the freedom to chart our own course.