23 June 2021

How Brexit changed us

New Statesman contributors reflect on the fifth anniversary of the seminal Europe referendum.

Andrew Marr: We have learned optimism is a potent political quality

If the left doesn’t find an optimistic, enthusing British prospectus of its own, then, in the short term, it is finished.

Janice Turner: Let’s make the most of Britain’s new place in the world

What surprised me wasn’t the result, but the reckless determination of Remainers to reverse it.

Gary Younge: Covid has proved the futility of nationalist thinking

A referendum could change the terms on which we engaged with the world, but it could not change the fact engagement is in our best interests.

Matthew Elliott: Keir Starmer is the true architect of Labour’s post-Brexit misfortune

As the former shadow Brexit secretary who called the shots, Starmer has created his own luck – and played into the hands of the Brexiteers.

Yanis Varoufakis: The UK’s departure has given the EU the illusion of strength

Both Remainers and Leavers ignored the impact of their decision on an EU in deep internal crisis.

Laurie Penny: Britain has lost its sense of humour along with its self-respect

This project was supposed to restore Britain’s dignity, but instead we’re prepared to shatter the UK over sausages.

John Gray: The aftermath of the vote was a study in absurdity

If you think there is no possible argument on the side of the 17 million people who voted Leave, you cannot help treating them with contempt.

Out: Britain leaves the EU, 31 January 2020. Credit: Andrew Testa/New York Times/Redux/eyevine

Fintan O’Toole: Politicians have forgotten the harms of muscle-flexing over Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is being used for proxy wars against the EU, as if the place has not had enough of the real kind of war.

Sasha Swire: Brexit is like weight-lifting – in the end you will grow stronger

For me chaos is good, it’s creative, and Boris Johnson is its political product.

David Hare: We have tangled up artists in the red tape the Tories pretend to dislike

For every industry, the break has involved one big cat’s cradle of statist bureaucracy.

Johny Pitts: Why I feel less British and more European than ever before

I still find my identity where I always found it; in cultural connection beyond nationalism, outside officialdom.

David Gauke: The Tory party is almost unrecognisable now

The part of the Thatcherite legacy that stood for free markets, economic openness and fiscal conservatism has been largely repudiated.

Helen Thompson: Brexit belongs to a time when complacency still permeated UK politics

When an MP was murdered and the dangers to the Union seemed self-evident, it is disconcerting to think of the referendum as a time of innocence.

Anand Menon: Brexit should never have become so polarised

The way the public and, more importantly, parliament, polarised into two rival camps – hard Brexit versus second referendum – was remarkable.

Fighting on: a pro-EU protester outside parliament in London, 5 September 2019. Credit: Andrew Testa/New York Times/Redux/eyevine

Robert Tombs: Rejoining the EU is now unthinkable except for a diehard minority

In a few years, young people may wonder why Brexit caused such a fuss.

Grace Blakeley: The left must challenge the EU, not simply concede to it

By failing to offer a post-EU vision, Labour allowed the Conservatives to shape Brexit – with disastrous consequences.

Maurice Glasman: For Labour, leaving the EU is a no-go zone which it can neither embrace nor reject

Despite his career of euroscepticism, Jeremy Corbyn could not make the case that the EU, after the Maastricht and Lisbon treaties, had become committed to an eternal form of capitalism.

Margaret MacMillan: Like the Quebecois separatists in Canada, the Leavers campaigned with passion, pride, and no plan for what comes next

The British diplomacy is reminiscent of a play-ground bully, with name-calling and threats interspersed with protestations that we are all good friends.