WE MUST RE-SET OUR RELATIONS WITH EUROPE
Brexit will go down in history as one of the biggest confidence tricks of the twenty-first century. It was claimed that it would make us richer – remember that promise of an extra £350 million a week for the NHS. Remember the Conservatives “Ministry of Brexit Opportunities” which had to be abolished because there were no worthwhile Brexit opportunities. So far we have poor quality agreements with Australia and New Zealand. Big agreements promised with the United States and with India have not happened and are not likely to.
In fact Brexit has made us poorer, as was bound to happen from placing trade barriers between the UK and our largest trading partner. It has scared off investment. It has taken away opportunities for young people. And it will go on doing damage unless we have a re-set of our relations with our nearest neighbours across the Channel. Economists calculate that our economy would be 4% bigger now but for Brexit.
Liberal Democrats believe that we need to restore good relations with Europe and start reversing the effects of Brexit before they get even worse. As a start we will:
- Rejoin the Erasmus programme supporting education, training, youth and sport in Europe;
- Accept the European Union’s offer of an exchange system allowing British young people to work in Europe for up to four years, which has been rejected by the Conservative and Labour parties;
- Restore mutual recognition of British and European professional qualifications.
Going forward we aim ultimately to rejoin the European Single Market, taking away the pointless obstacle of trade barriers at the English Channel. This will take time, as our relations with Europe have been badly damaged by the Conservatives, but we will make a start by changing the direction of travel in favour of closer co-operation. This will help us in many other areas, including defence, foreign policy and immigration control.