By campaigning to immediately re-join the European Union, one would be campaigning for the destruction of the Liberal Democrats as a major political party in the UK.
This is not to say membership of the EU should not be an ideal to progress towards in the long term. The EU continues to be an opportunity for the UK to participate in something larger than itself. I still hold ardent faith in the ‘European Project’.
Problems arise with an immediate return to the EU for many reasons, not least of all electorally. A majority of the UK are exhausted by Brexit, preferring to draw a line under it, and having just experienced a referendum and two general elections, one can see why. Adopting re-join as a policy would alienate millions of liberally-minded people, who would otherwise vote Lib Dem, purely because sentiment towards the EU overrides any other issue in British politics today.
By having a moderate policy on the EU, perhaps one of close alignment, we would avoid disenfranchising voters on the one issue. Ultra-remainers would still vote Lib Dem due to our image as the party of remain in previous years, and would appeal to those liberal-minded leave voters we turned our backs on in 2017 and 2019. It may also prove tricky to sell a positive image of the EU in the coming months. Setting an inflation rate for the Euro will prove difficult in the aftermath of Covid, with it having to accommodate the needs of economies in wide-ranging states of disarray.
The Liberal and Liberal Democrat parties have been the broadest, most tolerant houses of British politics for over 160 years, championing progress and individual freedom whilst proposing bold, wide-reaching social policies for the British people. The liberal dynasties of Gladstone, Lloyd-George, Ashdown and Kennedy could not have been reduced to one sentence, let alone two words. ‘Stop Brexit’ has defined our party for two years now, eclipsing all else our party stands for. Although the strategy first appeared to draw support from all political factions, it failed. The stunt was an attempt to propel us through the fiery hoops of political relevancy, and yet two years on we stand limply at their feet. This now ashen sentiment surrounding ‘Stop Brexit’ has attached itself to the cause for re-joining the EU, and will replicate its misfortunes.
At this point I see the Liberal Democrats as a drunkard, mindless of its surroundings within the pub of Europe. All our next leader needs to do is guide the party safely to a cuppa steady, progressive liberalism, before we sink subconsciously into a dreary one-policy mindset, ignored as we nonsensically repeat ourselves at a corner table.
* Peter Cocks is a LD member and activist in Guildford, and will soon be studying History and Political Science at McGill University, Montreal
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
The Joy of Six 1537
Lessons from 1936 and 2026 for the Liberal Democrats (LDN#211)
Recipe for a real change of direction
Day 9304: So Farewell Then, Kier Starmer
expats
Peter Martin
David Raw
paul barker
29 Comments
Absolutely.
I was in favour of the revoke position last year. I thought it was clearly differentiating and stood a chance. At the absolute last point to stop the train, I thought enough people might put aside their loyalties and go for it. I was completely wrong.
If that position didn’t work then, it will never work. It’s as simple as that. The conditions will never be more right for that sort of policy than they were last December.
Most people tend to see the Lib Dems in the middle ground, yet on Europe they’ve flown as far to one extreme as it’s possible to go.
The middle ground exists, and it’s EEA membership. It’s completely consistent with the vote to leave, yet causes minimal disruption and is open rather than isolationist. It’s also by far the quickest way to “get Brexit done”. Nobody much seems to be proposing it, yet it’s the most consistent position with what the public has asked for (i.e. listen to us, get it done, then shut up about it).
I agree that now is not the time to openly call for the UK to return. Outside of full membership we can still call for participation in many of the agencies and the closest security and economic ties. We will not help the pro-Europe cause by being inquestioning supporters. Rebuilding the party is now the most important[ideally under Layla].
first of all congratulations the person who wrote this article very well Thought Out and very well articulated.
I suspect you will be inundated with some snide comments probably from the other side but i agree.
One of our biggest problems in building a Core Vote is that a lot of Voters, even Voters sympathetic to Liberal Values see us as gutless, soft, cowardly, flaky & so on.
That is our fault, its not True but it has a grain of Truth in it; we are often too eager to be seen as Nice rather than principled. The damage done by The Coalition was partly that it confirmed this view of us.
Our Hard Line on Brexit actually surprised a lot of Voters, they didnt think we had it in us. Let us keep some of that improvement by actually telling Voters what we believe, that Rejoining The EU as soon as possible is the best option. That ASAP wont actually be very soon, 5 Years after The Next Election would be the absolute minimum.
Of course its extremely unlikely that We will win a “Majority” in 2024, the best that we can reasonably hope for is to be The Junior Partner to a Labour Government. We are not going to be in a position to Apply to Rejoin in 2024 so what is so outrageous about saying what we Really Think ?
Its Time for us to develop some Guts.
Totally in agreement with this excellently written pice of discourse.
I disliked the whole obsessive attention to one policy, one that some of us did not like at all.
I favoured remaining in the EU, but rejoining .
f rejoin now is the policy it is not one that could keep me in this party as this party would be a waste of energy. Labour would have many of us as members if the harder left were overcome, under such circumstances.
As it is I am a keen member of any mainstream centre to centre left party. This one would have become a far from the political mainstream if oblivious to political realism.
We are as a country facing a much greater issue.
Why this country has the worst rates of this virus on earth.
I hear little from any, Liberal Democrat, Labour, on that.
Mean to say ” favoured remaining in the Eu but not rejoining!”
@Peter Cocks
I always take with a pinch of salt the views of someone, who is not going to be around to see what happens if we do crash out of the EU without a deal. I hope you enjoy your experience in Canada. My wife and I proceeded you by 50 years, in our case to the Canadian prairies.
Back then, what my three year stay in Canada taught me was that the rest of the world, or at least North America, didn’t think that much of us, taking broadly the Dean Acheson view that we had lost our way. Remember, back then, we were still going it alone, as we would appear to be about to be doing again.
Canada is still a very interesting place to study independence. Not long after we arrived, a British diplomat, James Cross, was kidnapped by Quebec nationalists (FLQ) in their efforts to secure the freedom of the largely French speaking province. He was held for two months and then released. He appears to be still alive at 98! They’ve had at least two Québec Independence referendums aka ‘neverendums’ over there (and counting) and so far the Québecois appear to want to stay in the Federation, although, given its close proximity to and economic dependence on the USA, the kind of independence Canada enjoys is debatable.
I don’t know whether you have been over there before; but I wonder, if you decide eventually to return, whether your view of Britain’s rôle in the world will change as much as mine did all those years ago. In fact, it was a realisation that neither the Labour or Conservative Parties appeared to have the answer that made me take an active interest in the Liberal Party when I returned in 1974. By then we had joined the old EEC. Now, if it had stayed the EEC, we might not still be beating ourselves up over Europe.
In the meantime, I wonder whether you will follow the late Harold Wilson’s resolution as PM never to make comments about the UK when abroad.
@John Marriott
Thank you very much for the advice on Canada, I am greatly looking forward to studying there, especially in an area so politically active. Hopefully my living abroad will be just as enjoyable as your time in Canada. Addressing your ‘take with a pinch of salt’ and ‘never make comments about the UK when abroad’ comments, I thought it was Lib Dem policy that all UK citizens’ voices should be equally heard? Should this not apply to expats or students abroad? My voting and citizen’s rights will hold firm, so I see no reason for my voice to quieten.
@Peter Cocks
Not in my humble opinion; but that’s probably because I grew up in a different age. Good old Harold, despite his many faults, was a gentleman in my book. It’s a bit like Lord Nigel Lawson, urging us to leave the EU safely ensconced in his mansion in Gascony, or Lord Rothermere, living in Paris, allowing his Daily Mail to support a similar position, or the Barclay twins living on Alderney, and probably nit just for their health. And then there’s Jacob Rees Mogg’s firm encouraging us to invest in the EU, and John ‘Spock’ Redwood giving similar paid advice. Hypocrites one and all! I could go on. I’m just waiting for a former Deputy Prime Minister, now a resident with his family of California, to tell us where we have gone wrong.
Whether you choose to comment is entirely up to you. As far as “all UK citizens’ voices” being “equally heard” being ‘Liberal Policy’, since when have Liberals always all stuck to the party line? To be honest, that’s been their trouble all along. Such things are, in the immortal words of Hamlet; “More honoured in the breach than the observance“. In my book, if you are living abroad, whether studying, working, as has been my case on several occasions in my life, or retired, your opinion, to which you are perfectly entitled, does not carry the same conviction as if you are living here.
No, the opposite is true.
We’ve spent the past 4 years building a core vote around pro-EU voters. Turning our backs on them would be like the coalition all over again – it would only convince people that we’re devoid of principles and will just say anything to get power.
And you know what? If we did that, they’d be right. I would leave the party in those circumstances.
By all means be realistic that delivering rejoin at the next election is basically impossible without an unrealistic shift in other parties’ positions. But we should be clear that *we* support rejoin, have a policy that a Liberal Democrat government would rejoin, and that the closest relationship possible is the bare minimum we’d accept in a hung parliament.
Leavers won the referendum but departure was frustrated by Mrs May and a Remain cabinet then by more Tory Remainers who tried to scupper the whole thing. Then Parliament tried to block the result of the referendum and this party vowed to revoke the entire democratic result. By this time, even democratic Remainers wanted to get on with it.
So Mr Cocks is right, this is not the time to launch a re-join campaign. But even as a Leaver, I accept that many here do wish to again become part of the EU. I suggest the following.
Let us leave first. The EU is being awkward, trying to retain control. Let that take its course which could involve no deal. I would also wait until the EU has agreed its budgets and strategic plans concerning integration and federalism.
Do not use the arguments of recent years, i.e. insulting the intelligence of the voters and promoting Project Fear. Try to find positive reasons for joining, bearing in mind that would involve the Euro and probably central financial control as more integration is inevitable. It would also involve massive financial contributions beyond anything we have seen to date.
Frankly, I cannot imagine anyone wishing to re-join but unless you can sell these things as worthwhile then there is no point in starting. Many people here are devoted to the EU. Unless you can persuade a large section of the public to do the same, you could make the party seem terminally irrelevant.
Good article and I agree that we can’t have rejoin as our lead at the next GE for the very reason you mention. However I don’t think precludes us from continuing to say that we believe EU membership offers the best for Britain’s prosperity and our freedoms. This, combined with a policy of close alignment, should be the way we go.
Interestingly though while I believed revoke was a thoroughly disastrous policy I never had a problem with the slogan “Stop Brexit” which pre-dated our revoke pledge. People got that we wanted a second referendum – which we would respect – but we wanted to Stop Brexit. We just went a step too far.
I dont remotely believe that this article or most of the comment thread so far are in line with what most Libdems feel. That is natural, one of the reasons that Brexit won was because its supporters feel more strongly & are willing to shout louder. Its worth reminding ourselves that 48% of Britain Voted to stay in The EU, thats about double the highest we have ever got in a Westminster Election & Six Times our current average Polling. The idea that being Pro EU will put off all those natural Liberals is fairly daft.
Well this possibly ‘ultra-remainer’ (what DOES that mean?*) would likely tear up her membership card if we wimped out of what we believe in in order to appease people who wouldn’t vote for us anyway.
Trying to be all things to all people doesn’t get us votes and never has.
No one knows what we stand for on anything else, so where we have some clear convictions, let’s stand by them. Doesn’t have to be the key plank in our campaigning, but keep it as as one of them. a) to give Remainers someone to vote for, and b) so we cannot be accused of ditching our principles to gain votes.
*the choice is binary: in or out. I think terms like ‘ultra-remainer’ are incredibly negative. It and the bizarre comment in the thread that Remainers will ‘probably use snide remarks’ says more about the writers than about anyone else.
Lib Dems are perhaps the only party which is devoted to all things EU and I think it is right that the party should seek to re-join the EU but not until the EU has defined its own future and the party has defined credible arguments for re-joining.
It would be a huge mistake to confuse support for Remaining with support for re-joining. A great many people reluctantly voted to remain because they feared the financial consequences of leaving after integration for several decades. That fear was thoroughly exploited by the Government and treasury, supported by every major financial institution on the planet and, incidentally, recipients of Whitehall funding.
Many small businesses were risk averse as were their employees. However, very few of these people felt any allegiance towards the EU. They were torn between a strong desire to leave the EU and concerns for the wellbeing of their jobs and families.
That decision has now been made and they have left the EU. They are not nearly so keen to re-join.
Perhaps Cassie and Stephen we need a new Social Liberal Party if this one turns its back on the EU. At least that was one consistent policy and one of conviction. The problem was the Party, not helped by the media, did not get across other policy areas at the last GE very effectively and the decision to revoke came across as extreme. I agree with the commitment to re-joining at a later date but it would need to be ratified by another referendum giving the vote to EU nationals and 16/17 year olds so that it is more democratic than the last one. At least if the vote is then leave, it will be with a clearer majority. That’s an interesting point on Canada and Quebec. The last two referendums were very close but the No vote won. I understand that most people from a BAME background voted for Quebec to remain part of Canada which was also the case in the EU reffy here but unfortunately the Lib Dems were unable to attract their support in greater numbers.
“Our responsibility for justice and liberty cannot be confined by national boundaries; we are committed to fight poverty, oppression, hunger, ignorance, disease and aggression wherever they occur and to promote the free movement of ideas, people, goods and services. Setting aside national sovereignty when necessary, we will work with other countries towards an equitable and peaceful international order and a durable system of common security. Within the European Community we affirm the values of federalism and integration and work for unity based on these principles.”
If anyone wants a change to the constitution, I suppose they could try; I doubt they would like the result though.
In any case though people here need to look at the issue from the other end. Thanks to Brexiter shenanigans the UK has lost a great deal of trust and goodwill in Europe, so whatever happens there will need to be much bridge building. With its sister parties and contacts with key players across Europe, the Lib Dems are in a singularly advantageous position to lead the way. Nevertheless it will be a step by step process during which the UK is able to establish itself as a team player.
In some of the comments here, I sense some undertones of exceptionalism. For the UK to be accepted by all other EU states, exceptionalism has to be laid to rest.
Interesting article. Incidentally, I voted to Leave and now regret it. To many people, it was our protest against the tories, the con-dem coalition and the raising of our retirement age!. I think a bit of contriteness from Nick Clegg for the coalition years could have gone some way towards a better result at the last 2 general elections.
However, why have the Lib Dems not considered joining the EFTA? We and Portugal were past members and is there something so bad about working with Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Leitchenstein?
Brother tony. I agree with your comments on us joining EFTA or another Organisation linked to the EU without ,at the moment,rejoining Rejoining MUST remain a goal.
Brother Tony:
Why are you so sure that the EFTA countries want the UK? In reality Switzerland is semidetached because it is not officially in te EEA and does not subscribe to te EFTA court, but its bilateral agreements and membership of Schengen sort of substitute. This leaves Norway as the big fish, for them the UK might spell trouble. Norway has no interest in becoming a victim of political infighting in the UK.
Nonetheless, I think that the UK could be in the Single Market (EEA); it could also be in the Customs Union (solving problems with Northern Ireland). Possibly the UK could be permitted some kind of observer status in some EU decision making processes.
This thread is a good example of a great LibDem tradition: how we can have an argument on an issue on which they basically agree!
To those threatening to tear up their membership cards if the party ‘turns its back on the EU,’ please read Mr Cocks’ article again. Do you not see the part where he writes: [I]”This is not to say membership of the EU should not be an ideal to progress towards in the long term. The EU continues to be an opportunity for the UK to participate in something larger than itself. I still hold ardent faith in the ‘European Project’”?[/b]
His only point is to say that we should not advocate [b]immediately[/b] rejoining, which really is just commonsense. Nobody is saying we abandon our pro-Europe identity. We can still be the ardently pro-EU party who wants to rejoin but recognises that this can’t happen immediately. That is not ‘turning our back’ on anything, its just being sensible and realistic – and honest with the voters.
I appreciate your contributions N Hunter and Martin. A responsible political Party should be looking at the alternatives. A sort of Plan B. I know the EFTA isn’t the EU, but it IS a ‘European’ trading bloc. With our proximity and history, how about the Nordic Council?
I’m from the North of England and I’m not the type of person who believes Europe begins and ends at Dover.
Peter – It was Boris and the hard right Brexiteers who blocked Brexit because they didn’t think May’s deal went far enough not Remainers.
Parliamentary sovereignty means that the referendum was only advisory and in my view only the government has a moral duty to implement the result but opposition parties are perfectly entitled to continue to oppose it.
Next election isn’t due until 2024 so a rejoin referendum could be held in 2028 – this would be 12 years after the original vote so most people would think it was legitimate to have another vote by then.
By 2028 the utter pointlessness of Brexit will have set in e.g trying to do trade deals with countries like Japan that the EU has already done deals with.
That said the tactical mistakes of revoke etc must be avoided which means Rejoining must be done with a referendum only and don’t bang on about it the whole time to the exclusion of other policies.
Leave voters in target seats need to be given non- EU related reasons to vote for us.
Marco,
“It was Boris and the hard right Brexiteers who blocked Brexit because they didn’t think May’s deal went far enough not Remainers.”
It was both. Neither side was happy with it for their own different reasons. Jo Swinson and Jacob Rees Mogg were in an unholy alliance and often went through the same voting lobbies.
Also, neither side was prepared to compromise sufficiently, so in the end the issue had to be decided by one side winning and the other losing. Unfortunately for Jo Swinson and Lib Dems she wasn’t the winner! She gambled and lost. Instead of being PM she couldn’t even retain her own seat in Parliament.
We should campaign for close cooperation with the EU while remaining outside. This means close cultural, sporting, educational, business and professional links. Eventually, the tide will change and we will want to rejoin.
@ Peter Hirst,
“Eventually, the tide will change and we will want to rejoin…..”
With full membership? No Opt outs? Including Schengen and adopting the euro? That is unlikely. There’s never been anywhere near majority support for that. It is more likely that the eurozone won’t survive the strain that is being placed upon it by the Covid19 pandemic. There will be a reversal to floating national currencies and the EU will take a few steps back to what worked reasonably well in EEC days.
It could make sense to rejoin that.
“ With full membership? No Opt outs? Including Schengen and adopting the euro? ”
A perfect example of why such major decisions should be a 2 stage process with more than one referendum.
Need a written constitution to clarify how it all works.
Jo Swinson lost to the SNP – another ultra remain party.
Boris victory in 2019 was as much a mandate for Brexit as Blair’s victory in 2005 was a vindication of the Iraq war ie it wasn’t. Both results were a product of hopeless opposition and the first past the post electoral system.
“the SNP – another ultra remain party.” ??
‘Ultra’ is too strong a word. They are really only so pro-EU now to give themselves a another reason to push for independence. That could well change once they’ve achieved it.
“…..the SNP has a strand of Euroscepticism in its make-up. ‘Back in the 1970s, they were strongly anti-European,’ says Pro Michael Keating, from the University of Aberdeen… ‘What is the point in getting out of the UK if you’re going to give your sovereignty over to Brussels instead?’ he says.”
And that’s a good question!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37107148
What this discussion says to me is that we see our support for Europe as involving or not membership of one of the myriad European organisations, when we have just left the EU. I think the European project is about making war unthinkable, and to be achieved by individuals working together in each other’s countries and getting to know each other. The twinning movement in the late 1940s started from the desire to get to know each other. The EU has created too many rules, and needs to reconsider itself. But it will have to do that without us. Equally we need to take a breathing space from the whole subject. Let us focus on making it possible for Europeans to get to know each other better as individuals, as our contribution to making war unthinkable. A good start would be to give British citizenship to all long-term residents of the UK who want it, whatever their country of origin. Working in other countries will remain possible, though in all countries it will now be harder than it was in the EU. I’m not giving up on the EU, but if by sharing responsibility for debt it moves closer to a United States of Europe, that is not what will bring us all together.