The 10th anniversary of Brexit was a damp squib - Yorkshire Post Letters

Did anyone hear of any street parties to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2016 EU referendum? There were no fireworks, no bunting, and none of the politicians who once toured the country on red buses were anywhere to be seen. Broad agreement, then, that there was nothing Brexit-related worth celebrating.

Speaking to The Independent, former Labour leader Neil Kinnock set out plainly why this matters. He argued that the next prime minister must drop the Brexit red lines that are stifling the economy, pointing to a 6 per cent hit to growth and lower tax revenues that work out at about £3,200 a year per person, or more than £6,000 for a typical family.

Anyone living in Yorkshire doesn’t need an economist — or a political elder statesman such as Lord Kinnock — to tell them what has gone wrong. They can see it in higher costs, weaker growth, and the extra barriers facing firms that want to sell, hire, invest or export. For local businesses, the red tape is not a slogan. It is a daily burden.

Anyone holidaying abroad this summer may already be worrying about longer airport queues and the risk of missing flights, as new checks on non-EU citizens are rolled out.

That is why the argument about Brexit has changed. For many people now, this is no longer about rerunning the battles of 2016. It is about whether Brexit has made Britain more prosperous, more confident and more in control. It hasn’t.

Polling this summer found 57 per cent of Britons think it was wrong to leave the EU, while 55 per cent would support rejoining.

The politicians who sold Brexit made big promises. Boris Johnson said there would be no trade border down the Irish Sea and no non-tariff barriers to trade. Instead, we got both. The fantasy was fantastic; the reality has been wretched.

The upcoming Downing Street handover should create an ideal opportunity to drop the pretence and begin repairs. The first step is not ideological. It is practical: rebuild a serious relationship with Europe, remove needless barriers, and stop treating cooperation with our closest neighbours as a political embarrassment.

That matters especially for younger people, including those who were too young to vote in 2016 but now have to live with the consequences. Many have lost chances to travel, work and study more freely in Europe. More in Common polling this summer found 60 per cent of 18- to 28-year-olds would vote to rejoin the EU.

True patriotism is not clinging to a failed project out of pride. It is facing facts, changing course, and doing better for places in our region.

After a grim 10 years, Britain does not need more Brexit mythology, excuses and isolationism. It needs honesty, ambition and a proper reset with Europe.