Sixteen months ago, in this blog, I described a multitude of Brexit-related concerns in an article entitled ‘No One Can Whistle a Symphony’. Since the publication of that article, much has changed: the EU withdrawal agreement has received royal assent, Johnson is Prime Minister, May is a backbencher, and ‘the honourable member for the 18th century’ is Leader of the Commons. For many, the worst-case scenario has become a reality. I am certainly no expert on the European Union, but, fortunately, Denis MacShane, who was a Labour MP for eighteen years and Minister of State for Europe between 2002 and 2005, is willing to speak to me. I am currently reading Mr McShane’s bestselling book, Brexiternity: The Uncertain Fate of Britain, in which it is explained how the Brexit process will be long and full of difficulties – suggesting a ‘Brexiternity’ of negotiations and internal political wrangling in Britain lies ahead.
I ask Mr MacShane which ‘symptom’ of Brexit he is most concerned with, and I receive an uncomplicated response. ‘All are equally important’, he says. The climate of xenophobia resulting from the referendum still exists, evidenced by 2020 headlines including ‘The growing nastiness of Brexit’ and ‘Brexit Day poster tells neighbours to speak English’. The notable reduction in EU applicants for jobs in important sectors such as health, leisure and the justice system remains a problem, demonstrated by the headline ‘EU applicants drop off a cliff’. ‘I certainly met European citizens in the prison service’, says Denis MacShane. The Howard League for Penal Reform has stated that as recruitment continues, prisons will not be top of anyone’s list. ‘Brexit will have soon cost the UK more than all its payments to the EU over the past 47 years put together’, reported Business Insider in February, which is nothing short of outstanding and shocking. And lastly, as Mr MacShane observes, if a hard Brexit is insisted upon, the police and intelligence agencies may lose automatic access to EU member states’ records in what would be ‘a big win for the criminals’.
Elliot Tyler 