I spoke in Westminster Hall recently about the need for closer ties with the European Union, after receiving multiple requests to do so from my constituents. That is because Wimbledon was one of the UK’s strongest Remain constituencies, with over 70% voting for us to stay a member of the EU in the 2016 referendum.
There is an irony here, as I would not have been elected were it not for Brexit. Wimbledon has never returned a Liberal MP in almost 150 years, choosing the Conservatives on all but three occasions.
Yet my constituents became increasingly disillusioned as the Tories pursued a patently damaging and politically weak Brexit deal. That is why it was supported by Putin and Trump; and while I expected little else from them, I remain bemused that the Conservative Party went along with that folly, despite the views of many of its MPs, including my honourable predecessor in Wimbledon, Stephen Hammond.
While the Tories promised to “get Brexit done” and Labour promised to “make Brexit work”, it was the Liberal Democrats who continued to campaign to reengage with Europe. I know from my many emails and conversations, how many of my constituents placed their faith in me to continue making that argument – and that is what I intend to do.
Brexit was sold as a way to cut red tape, liberate businesses and create an agile economy. The reality has been the opposite. Instead of removing barriers, it has erected new ones. British firms now face extra paperwork, customs declarations, border checks and delays when trading with our nearest and largest market.
I hear these stories regularly across Wimbledon. An Italian baker facing mountains of paperwork simply to import ingredients. A local florist, vulnerable to inspections and transit delays that leave perishable flowers stranded at the border. Brexit’s advocates promised sunlit uplands but all we have is stale bread and dead flowers – a fitting epitaph to Brexit.
Yet politics cannot simply be about relitigating the past. The question is not whether Brexit happened – it did. The question is how we repair the damage and rebuild Britain’s prosperity.
Critics often argue the European Union faces economic challenges of its own, pointing out how the UK recently outgrew both France and Germany, but the comparison is selective. While Britain may have edged ahead of those two economies, 19 EU member states recorded higher cumulative growth than the UK between 2019 and 2026, with the eurozone as a whole outgrowing the UK.
Furthermore, it was not only Britain that suffered from Brexit; so did our trading partners in Europe. It is therefore hardly surprising they too have not grown as strongly as they would have done, had we not embarked on this act of self-harm.
Boasting about marginally outperforming two of our neighbours is not a serious growth strategy. It confuses short-term point-scoring with long-term economic health. The real question is how much stronger Britain would be if we removed Brexit’s barriers.
The evidence points in one direction. Closer economic integration with Europe would boost trade, investment and productivity. Rejoining the single market and securing a new customs union would provide businesses with the certainty and market access they desperately need. That is why, according to recent analysis from Goldman Sachs, these two measures would together grow our economy by between 3 and 6 per cent.
I consequently welcome the prime minister’s recent willingness to improve relations with European neighbours; but goodwill alone is not enough. The red lines he inherited from his predecessor severely limit what can be achieved, and it is up to the Liberal Democrats to provide the ambition and courage to go further.
Therefore, it is paramount that the prime minister attends the forthcoming EU summit with a plan to not only agree on a youth mobility scheme, but begin negotiating a growth and defence partnership, a customs union and the terms under which we might join the single market. The negotiations will not be easy, but the UK has much to offer and even more to gain.
And let us proclaim loudly that the aim of this re-engagement is to one day, in my lifetime, become full and active members of the EU once more.
We have had enough stale bread and dead flowers. It is time for Britain to bloom again.
