Brexit – signs of hope - The New European

It is not much but I take my few comforts where I can find them. Speaking to the Financial Times the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said that she would seek to break down trade barriers with the EU.

The simple fact that this goes further than Labour has announced so far, is a shocking indictment of this general election campaign. Neither of the two major parties dare mention Brexit, let alone condemn it, when all know it has been a complete disaster. Trying to improve trade with your largest market is not controversial – except in the topsy-turvy world of Tory politics.

But it will not be easy for Reeves to renegotiate the deal. Brussels doesn’t want to do that. It also doesn’t want to allow a foreign country to cherry pick the bits of EU policy it likes and leave the rest; it kind of undermines the whole point of the exercise.

But then Labour is not going to ask for much and any gradual warming of the current glacial impasse would be an improvement.

For a start Labour has made it clear it would seek to postpone the introduction of biometric tests for UK passport holders at the EU’s borders. It would be mad not to do that.

Now Labour is going to seek a better trade deal – but just with tiny baby steps at first. So, it would try to stay in REACH, the EU’s chemical industry regulatory system, rather than copying it for no purpose at all, at a cost of £2 billion. As Reeves told the FT “I don’t think anyone voted Leave because they were not happy that chemicals regulations were the same across Europe,” and she must surely be right.

Then a new Labour government would seek to get greater mutual recognition of professional qualifications, a new veterinary deal and improved touring rights for UK artists and musicians in the EU.

These are all sensible, and an EU that saw a government acting sensibly and will ing to talk and cooperate might be willing to throw the UK some bones.Many of us would be very keen for Labour to do more, there are EU institutions including Erasmus which we were mad to ever leave and a lot more that could be done on coordinating standards and regulations to make life easier for exporters. But hopefully, as the first gains appear, the pressure to go further will increase.

Reeves’s comments were, of course, immediately seized on by the Brexit buffoons, including Lord Frost, as proof that Labour could not be trusted with Brexit – because trying to have fewer barriers to trade is treason, apparently.

The Tory party, if it ever gets back into power, would presumably try to erect ever more barriers, introduce more red tape and delays, build a better, harder border in the Irish Sea, maybe they would shun world leaders more often and leave international events even earlier.

No, the mood music is changing. Soon Lord Frost will be ranting irrelevantly to his wife over the breakfast table. Soon the grown-ups will be in charge. They cannot reverse Brexit, but they could try to ameliorate its worst aspects.

At least we would then be going in the right direction.