London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Britain waking up to consequences of bungled Brexit, pandemic

Britain waking up to consequences of bungled Brexit, pandemic

Britain could have painlessly left with deals like Norway’s and Switzerland’s, but the arrogance of its political class let fantasies flourish long after the referendum and set a high price for blinkered English nationalism.

Disturbing though it was, the near closure to the world of the United Kingdom on December 21, a mere 10 days before its exit from the European Union, was symbolic. Some might even call it poetic justice.

The UK’s discovery of the mutation and increased velocity of Covid-19 has nothing directly to do with its departure from a group of 27 fellow European nations. However, it was a reminder of how vulnerable the UK now is, even assuming it survives as an entity given Scottish independence sentiments and Northern Ireland’s open border with the Republic.

There is likely to be some sort of deal before January 1, but even if free merchandise trade continues, the additional paperwork and uncertainties from exiting the single market will weigh heavily on exports, which were weakening conspicuously even before the pandemic. As for service exports and the freedom to travel and work, the loss will put the more successful UK firms, institutions such as its top universities and most talented individuals at a huge disadvantage.

As a Brit, I welcome the access now being offered to Hong Kong British National (Overseas) passport holders, but it is sad that they might never enjoy wider European opportunities. 

As for the tens of thousands of British workers dependent on Japanese and other car export manufacturers, the future of investment and jobs remains clouded.

It is fitting that Prime Minister Boris Johnson presides over this national catastrophe. It must be recalled that much animosity towards the European Union was driven by fake news of the sort that Johnson himself created as a supposed journalist writing for a supposedly serious newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, when he was its correspondent in Brussels. Similar nonsense appeared in media controlled by Rupert Murdoch and others pandering to English chauvinism and nostalgia for long-past glories.

Likewise, Brexiters would rather blame hardships of lower-income groups on Brussels than their own government’s policies responsible for huge income and regional gaps. In a minor way, the lead-up to Brexit was a reminder of how the slow drip of lies and exaggeration of a few genuine grievances enabled Adolf Hitler to convince many otherwise moderate, well-informed Germans of the justification for launching war against Poland.

Johnson crowed that with Brexit Britain could “have its cake and eat it”, imagining that there could be an equal treaty between one country and an EU whose solidarity seems to have been strengthened by British attitudes, with a population nearly seven times and an economy five times larger.

It was stupid enough to vote on Brexit without even discussing what kind of Brexit and its consequences. The vote was not even binding.


Activists hold up a placard during a protest organised by Border Communities Against Brexit on the border at Carrickarnon, Northern Ireland, on January 31.


Once embarked, Britain could have done a painless exit with deals like those of Norway and Switzerland, but the sheer arrogance and ignorance of Britain’s political class enabled the fantasies to flourish for the 4½ years after the referendum. The price of blinkered English nationalism will be high.

Britain must live with the consequences of its illusions that it can somehow do better deals than the EU with major trade partners such as China, India and Brazil, or that they will give it anything not available to Germany and France. Deals announced with Japan and Singapore add nothing to existing EU ones. The UK’s “special relationship” with the United States was always exaggerated and is now further weakened by London’s lack of influence in Brussels.

Fellow Europeans now view the British either with pity or scorn for the final Brexit, an appropriate denouement to the world’s worst year since 1945.

On the brighter side for 2021, this column makes two predictions about vaccines and victory over Covid-19. However, one fight for progress is belatedly just getting under way – the battle of the world’s consumers against monopoly and intellectual property theft in the digital world, of which almost all of us are a part. The US Federal Trade Commission has at last moved to break up Facebook on grounds of unfair competition.

This might yet prove a politically driven exercise, which will soon flag or be blocked by the money wall of lawyers who move between the commission and industry lobbies. The US has barely begun to protect privacy from voracious giants which it sometimes seems to regard as heroic national success stories, not the threats to competitive capital and democracy they have become.

Meanwhile, the EU has some privacy rules and is developing new rules intended to rein in the power of the quasi-monopolists including Google and Amazon and their capture of personal and private information for their own profit, usually with neither the consent nor knowledge of the users. Google is so arrogant that it regards itself as superior to significant nation-states such as Australia, declaring internet war on efforts there to make it pay for stolen news content.

Even the Communist Party, arguably the world’s most powerful non-military organisation, seems to have noted the power of digital giants controlled by one or a few individuals which burrow and buy their way into all-seeing, indispensable tools of life. Just ask Ant Financial.

A post-vaccine agenda for the world: break up dominant monopolies and – to help cover Covid-19 costs – tackle the offshore island tax evasion pandemic
which contributes so much to global and local income imbalances.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
×