Brexit has been the best decision in almost 500 years - Yorkshire Post Letters

It is always a pleasure to get a mention in a letter from Mr Cole, Chairman of Bradford for the EU. YPL 24/05/2024 entitled ‘Brexit, the worst policy decision in 100 years.’

Though challenging, as his opinions appear rather set, I will attempt to understand his scattergun approach.

To begin, Brexit was not a policy decision. It was a referendum. I did not use the phrase ‘the will of the people,’ but I do agree with the sentiment. If Mr Cole would prefer a different outcome, he must lobby for a second referendum but not discredit the first.

How the referendum was set is irrelevant; parliament is there to serve the people, not the other way round, so at this point, I will use the phrase ‘the will of the people.’ It’s called democracy.

The attempt to overturn the referendum decision in parliament undermined the fundamental principles of Britain’s constitution. The MPs who participated in such an undertaking showing mockery and contempt should hang their heads in shame. Of course, minorities must have a say, but you have no right to attempt to overturn a majority decision without a referendum. That is how a democracy changes its mind, Mr Cole.

Brexit restored parliamentary sovereignty from subordination to the supranational claims of the EU and the ECJ. But it was more than that. It was about the history of parliament itself. Parliamentary sovereignty is inextricably linked to national sovereignty; one is meaningless without the other.

Mr Cole uses a false example when he brings Albania into the conversation. Grasping at straws there, I think. Albania had to break from Moscow to ally with Maoist China before forming the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, a one-party communist state. How can this be relevant or comparable to anything?

Regarding economic policy, I find Mr Cole’s arguments hard to credit. Gordon Brown steered us alright; he doubled the debt, sold the gold and left us with debts we are still paying off to this day, and he admits he did not understand the complexities of the global economy regarding the financial crisis. George Osborne simply followed the austerity politics of the EU. Mrs Thatcher obviously saw merit in a trade deal with the EU. Why else did we join the EEC? And the EU was almost bearable until Maastricht reared its federalist head.

However, I must stress that we never had a privileged position. If we had any real influence, David Cameron could have renegotiated our terms, and we would still be a member of the EU.

So finally, to John Maynard Keynes. I am intrigued by Mr Cole’s understanding of fiscal policy. The economic tax and spend policies we have endured since the Blair years have hardly changed under the Conservatives.

Have I misunderstood Mr Cole? Perhaps he will enlighten me with a further counterpunch. Ultimately, the UK will benefit significantly from being an independent nation free from the control of the deeply divided EU.

Let’s face it: we were never fully part of the EU, outside the Schengen agreement, outside the single currency, and always at loggerheads with Brussels. De Gaulle was right to say that Britain disagreed with the core ideas of integration. We never really sat comfortably within the EU, did we? Leaving was the best idea since Henry VII’s decision to split from the Roman Empire in the 1530s. That makes it the best decision in almost 500 years.