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Move to rejoin EU among options for UK, says Burnham (www.bbc.co.uk)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/uk_politics@feddit.uk
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"We could stay as we are. That's definitely an option, if people think this is the right place to stay," he told [BBC Radio 4's Today programme].

"We could look at what [former Chancellor] George Osborne has said about a customs union, we could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the single market, or we could go all the way."

If you watch the video in the article, he also said this:

Brexit has caused more harm than good, and I think around 60% of the British public agree with that statement.

Do you like these statements from Burnham or not? I think these statements are good.

I don't see the point in cutting ties with our European allies, causing harm to our economy, just so we can wave little Union Jacks and pretend that we're so much better than other European countries.

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[–] 3 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I think it's good to open the conversation. It seems like people are less rabid about it now so raising it isn't political suicide.

I don't know if a full rejoin now - 10 years after the vote and 6 after actually doing it - is the smart move. We left the EU far too lightly, due to temporary political circumstances that never created a robust consensus. But that doesn't mean we should rejoin just as lightly - we are where we are now, and even if it's painful it's important to learn from those mistakes. That might mean accepting a half-way house without full single market membership for a while.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Your thesis is stay where you are because the pain will help brits learn?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago

    More like: if you rejoin quickly it gives people the impression that leaving and rejoining is something that's not a big deal. But it is, or should be, a big deal. It's not so much about pain as about showing to Brits and non-Brits that if you leave, you can't come back immediately if you don't like it.

    That's from the EU's POV. From the British POV, it's about improving the democratic process by doing constitutional change right, and showing that it's being done right. "Brexit was a mess, here's how to make a big decision that isn't a mess." That means enough time to understand the decision, as well as a debate in which the media doesn't just regurgitate disinformation.

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