We all know that Brexit is to blame for the crisis facing the UK steel sector – it is time for politicians to be honest and reflect the crisis | Simon Jenkins
WWhile Keir Starmer messes around in India, Rome burns. The British steel industry now faces a disaster so severe that insiders say it could be “terminal”. The vast majority – 80% – of its production is exported to the European Union, which this week revealed plans to export it Reducing the quotas of duty-free steel imports By about half. The rest will be subject to a 50% tariff. The UK steel industry will be slaughtered. Thank you, European Union. Thank you, Brexit.
Whenever I meet politicians who advocate for Brexit nowadays, I ask them a simple question: Do you still think you are right? A few idiots mutter, “Yes, in general” and “Maybe in the long run.” Honest people shrug their shoulders and look uncomfortable. We can all accept that a new generation of British politicians will one day resume open trade across the Channel. It’s normal for the island, and it makes sense. So I ask the honest people: Why don’t we announce? Make a headline, stand up, apologize, and get the ball rolling? No one did that.
In May, Starmer sheepishly negotiated a “Brexit reset” with Brussels. This has injected pockets of rationality into increasingly chaotic border controls, especially on food. A small number of other EU students subject to strict Brexit restrictions may be accepted, along with a new online portal for passport entry. Checks still need to be implemented – starting from Sunday – to enforce the rule limiting Britons to no more than 90 days out of 180 within the Schengen area. More reappointments are coming in the coming years.
According to the UK-based think tank A Changing Europe, most industries can’t afford to wait. They struggle to keep markets open, if necessary Realign itself with the European Union From the back door. The chemicals industry exports more than 60% of its production to the European Union. Brexiteers bragged that it would be free from EU regulations, but creating a special regulatory body in the UK cost £2 billion and was unsuccessful. According to the Chemical Industries Federation, production has fallen by 35-40% since 2021. Between 2021 and 2023, British exports to the European Union fell. Decreased by 27%. Brexiteers bragged that leaving the European Union would cost hundreds of billions annually. Cambridge Econometrics estimates that the British economy will be over the next decade £300 billion smaller Than if we had not left the European Union. This is self-harm on a heroic scale.
What matters is how you get out of the hole. For most politicians, Brexit has never been a political priority. It was a leadership stunt, made in keeping with Britain’s turbulent political climate in the mid-to-late 2000s. Parliament enacted what a majority of members on all sides of the House of Commons knew was wrong. Worse still, when a soft Brexit was a possible and less bad option, Labor failed to unite with the anti-Brexit Conservatives to maintain trade links with Europe. A very important national issue has been mired in parliamentary infighting, at a level approaching the level that is taking place now Repeated in Paris.
The excuse was that the audience wanted it. There is no such excuse now. Voters had the courage to look at the facts and admit they were wrong. According to YouGov 61% I finished That Brexit is a failure. Only 13% now consider it more successful. Nearly half want another referendum within five years, and 63% oppose loosening ties with the EU further. This number should print every public meeting held by Nigel Farage.
There is an urgent need for some coalition of politicians to take the lead and declare openly that Brexit was a mistake. Among Parliament’s many failings, its inability to rise to the occasion above party politics is the most glaring. Britain’s return to some trading relationship with Europe must now be the subject of a cross-party forum or select committee. They should pressure Starmer to make an urgent and coordinated bid to reengage with the EU. It won’t be cheap, but it’s worth it.
The Conservative Party leadership may find it difficult to deal with this necessary shift. This is difficult. Her failure to explain or justify other aspects of her performance in government does her no favors at all. To accuse Starmer last May of “treason”. “Give up” Regarding his agreement with the European Union, he was stupid. There must be conservatives who know the truth: honest politicians who follow Keynes’s alleged advice and allow circumstances to change their views. Nowadays, as with anti-Trump Republicans in the US, the question is: When will they have the courage to emerge?
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The public is clearly ready to see Brexit reversed. There cannot be a single industry that opposes this. The need is for leadership. This should not be a partisan issue, except insofar as it might alienate Farage’s reformist party – and perhaps lead to its decline. It should become a consensus. Of course it won’t be easy. But it would be right.
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Simon Jenkins is a columnist for The Guardian
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This article was amended on 10 October 2025. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Britons could not spend more than a quarter of any 12-month period within the Schengen Area