Category: Rejoin EU

Mass debate

Updated on

31/03/2025 by author

Here is our review of the Rejoin EU debate in Parliament on 24 March which found that Brexit was overwhelmingly a disaster. You can read the full transcript here.

Rage Against The Brexit Machine

There was unified Rage Against The Brexit Machine from right across the political spectrum save for the Tory party and Reform UK, who were too scared to attend. This rage even included Labour, who came as close as possible to being censured by the Labour party machine. Stella Creasy, in particular, gave an excoriating account of the damage being inflicted by Brexit, but, of course, stopped short of calling for Labour to reverse it, putting party before country. They will pay for this in support as I understand from inside sources that people are leaving Labour in droves. Is she waiting for her moment to unseat Starmer? We shall see. Here is an excerpt:

“Brexit is a disaster. It is a disaster by anybody’s metric, not least those according to whom it was purported to be a route to the promised land. The pandemic spared some of the blushes of those who still try to claim that we have got some elusive sovereignty as a result of leaving the European Union, but we can see the damage. Our constituents can see the damage.

Many Members have already cited some of the relevant figures; let me cite some more. As a result of Brexit, 1.8 million fewer jobs have been created in our economy, and that number is likely to rise to 3 million by 2035. Some 16,500 small businesses have stopped exporting to Europe all together. Those of us who were part of the parliamentary delegation last week had the pleasure of listening to Lord Frost trying to argue that up was down, but we know the truth for our constituents. We have seen the damage.

To me, the Brexiteers are like those people—we all have met them on a night out—who join the group, start a fight in the club and get everyone kicked out, but who still maintain, three hours later, as they are walking everyone around a completely empty industrial estate somewhere, that they know a great club that everyone can get into.”

Stella Creasy

Former Labour MP Rosie Duffield extinguished the notion that Labour had made an election promise NOT to reverse Brexit, by pointing out the many election promises already broken by Labour.

“The people now in charge were campaigning, with those of us who were here then, against Brexit several years ago, and I would like them to stick to that.”

Rosie Duffield

Creasy chose a particularly pathetic excuse to justify why Brexit could not be ended, by stating that it would be “difficult”. FFS, this is the job of politics and politicians, to do difficult things to make the world a better place!! Brexit was difficult, so stating the obvious as a reason to do nothing was possibly one of the ludicrous reasons to let Brexit continue that I’ve heard. This fits in with Paul Cawthorne’s list of reasons to do nothing articulated by Remoaners on an almost daily basis.

Friends Reunited

The debate was very cordial and was a model example of the kind of democratic behaviour we can return to when the Brexit nightmare has been put into a grave. It gave a united voice to the many Lib Dems who spoke, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Independents. Impressive stuff from all. Here’s a few highlights:

“We can see from the number of Liberal Democrat contributions that this subject is very important to our party. My hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) talked about the impact on defence, and my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) talked about higher education. My hon. Friend the Member for Lewes (James MacCleary) spoke about youth mobility and the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean convention, while my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) talked about the impact on farmers.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) gave a very personal reflection on her own journey, for which I am grateful, and my hon. Friend the Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) talked about fishing. My hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) spoke eloquently about barriers to trade. My hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Mr Kohler) gave a polemic, which I really enjoyed, and my hon. Friend the Member for Melksham and Devizes (Brian Mathew) made a particularly interesting contribution about health co-operation, for which I thank him.”

Sarah Olney

“I encourage Labour Members to pursue this issue and keep on taking it to their Government—to argue with passion and conviction that they want the UK to be back in the European Union. That is the only thing that will satisfy the petitioners, because that is what they want. As has been rightly said, the UK public are way ahead of the House on this issue; some 60% of them now want the UK to rejoin the European Union. We should look at what they want. If one of the parties—just one—were to say, “We are totally committed to full EU membership,” that would be immensely popular; it would go with the grain of public opinion throughout the United Kingdom.”

Pete Wishart

“The Government must do what is right for the British public and not just run scared of the hon. Member for Clacton and the rest of his quarrelsome rag-bag of little Englanders and cheerleaders for Trump and Putin. We are part of Europe, and I have no doubt that one day we will rejoin the EU and regain our position at its heart, just as Winston Churchill advocated. Until that day, we must work tirelessly towards fostering ever closer co-operation by breaking free of the red lines in which this Government have bound themselves so unnecessarily.” Paul Kohler

“The end of January marked five years since the UK left the EU. Although a majority of people in the UK, and indeed in Wales, voted to leave the EU at that time, the majority do not think it was a good idea any more. Polling shows that 55% of Britons now say that it was wrong for the UK to leave the EU, with just 11% seeing Brexit as more of a success than a failure. Let us also not forget that young people voted decisively to remain.”

Liz Savile-Roberts

“Speaking of the architects of the botched Brexit, where exactly is the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage)? According to Hansard, he has mentioned Brexit just twice since his election in July. Surely, if this Brexit deal was the monumental success that he and others promised, he would be reminding us no end of times. His silence speaks volumes. Even he seems aware that this supposed triumph is best quietly forgotten.”

James MacCleary

I do not think that anyone in this Chamber, or the petitioners, expects the Labour party to lead us back into the EU tomorrow. What we want to hear from this Labour Government is a commitment that that is their objective and that is what they will work towards.

Pete Wishart

“I urge the Government to move away from warm words—at the PPA, we all exchanged warm words about our new relationship—towards action and results. Otherwise, we will be talking about a reset for many decades. We need action from the Government now.”

Wera Hobhouse

“I still wholeheartedly believe in us rejoining the European Union—that is our future—and debates like this are part of that process. People need be under no illusion that this issue is going away; as the petitioners and those supporting them prove, this debate is ongoing in the country. There is also strong support, as the polling evidence shows, that the public believe that we made a mistake.”

Tim Roca

We cannot afford to wait 10 years to address some of the very real challenges that we face as a country. Practical, tangible steps can be taken to help to build a stronger and closer relationship with the EU.

James Naish

“What is it about enriching young people’s lives that frightens this Government so much?“

Liz Savile-Roberts

Several Labour MPs went further than I had expected them to go, whilst sticking to red lines, red lines made largely irrelevant and inappropriate by redneck Trump and his Russian sponsors. We have also received some gratifying replies from Labour MPs.

To absent friends …

Save for a couple of swivel headed Unionist loons talking vacuous BS about fish and democracy, the debate was devoid of the Brexit Culture Carriers. No Nigel, Tice, Johnson, Mogg, Braverman, Duncan Smith, Truss, Sunak, Patel, Redwood, Davis, Failing Grayling, Chope, Coffey, Whittingdale, Francois, Hoey, Steve (beardy wierdy) Hardman Baker, Jenkyns, Fabricate, Leadsom, Gullis, Mordaunt, Hayes and many more. When people tell me that now is not the right time to end Brexit in case we end up in a hokey cokey Brexit, they seem to forget that Brexit has no cheerleaders. Nigel F has mentioned the word just twice since taking up office in his constituency of Washington and adopted the easy lie that Brexit was in fact perfection but it was just executed extremely badly by the hard Brexit cabinet. One would have thought that if Brexit was so good, then Brexiteers would have been lining up in their thousands to extol its virtues at the event. No one came. This speaks volumes. Even the Tory Gammon MP for Fylde said that Brexit had provided many benefits, but was unable to name ANY in his summing up. And the party line offered by Labour MP for Thamesmead was lacking in substance and delivered in such a robotic style that I began to wonder if AI had arrived sooner than expected.

It ain’t over

The motion passed. Sadly that does not mean anything other than the debate was held. If we want anything to happen, we must make it so … So, the job is not finished ….

I was delighted to receive over 30 positive replies from MPs due to our mass mailing of our book Rejoin EU: Reboot Britain to MPs, the work of 60 people, including former Labour MEPs, a KC and subject experts across many fields. This nearly involved my detention in parliament due to taking 30 kg of book in a suitcase for a meeting there !!

We have about 300 Labour MPs / journalists and influencers still to mail with books and are hatching a plan to form a “coalition of the willing and able” to meet with Sir Keir Starmer directly. We will need around £4000 to undertake these tasks (£1500 for books, a meeting in London for 20 people and associated costs). If you can help, please send us some support via WISE, BACS, Go Fund Me etc.

And you can still mail your MP with our letter and a hard copy of the book – get the template here and the book on Amazon. Bulk orders at 60% author discount direct via e-mail at reboot@brexitrage.com

“The EU is a pragmatic project, but at its core it is also an idealistic one. It is a project grounded in ideals, and in the idea that the nations of central Europe should never go to war again. It succeeded in that mission, making it one of the most successful political projects ever in mankind’s history. When we are making the argument for rejoining the European Union, let us use the language of idealism, not just rationalism. Unless we build a case for the UK to rejoin the EU based on idealist language and get people to buy into the ideals on which the European Union was founded, we will not have long-term buy-in to the project among the people we need to convince.”

David Chadwick

“I fear that I am in danger of picking at the scars and wounds referred to by the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy)—a very learned Member—but I must reflect on these past nine years. On 23 June 2016, the people of Scotland voted to remain within the European Union by 62% to 38%. There was a majority for remain in every single one of Scotland’s local authorities. In anyone’s terms, that was decisive, and if the vote were rerun today, I suggest it would be even more decisive.”

Seamus Logan

Watch and learn

Posted in Brexit, Labour, Politics, Rejoin EU, Trump | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Labour, Rejoin EU, Stella Creasy | Leave a reply

The only good Brexit

Updated on

29/03/2025 by author

Peter Cook

This piece was first written in 2024. It’s still as relevant (perhaps more so) under the Brexit Labour Trump Government … The only good Brexit … is a dead Brexit … it has become painfully clear that Brexit has not delivered any of the so-called freedoms, nor solved any of Britain’s problems or opened up opportunities of equivalent or better value when compared with our previous membership of the ‘club’. Read Rejoin EU: Reboot Britain for more on this. Better still, mail copies of the book to MPs or support our project to do so.

Even the Financial Times find it necessary to court proven liars such as Matthew Elliot in their recent film on the subject. Elliot attempts to make the argument that Brexit has not delivered because our mainstream politicians are not willing to seize opportunities, but then fails to identify any. It’s a thinly disguised argument to invite the Brexit ultras to the table, and with it, full fat fascism to Little Britain. Watch the FT film at the end of this article. Before that, watch this two minute short piece which sums up what Brexit was really about. My film is devoid of academic references as these tend to need much more time, but the supporting facts and validation can be found at the accompanying article Populism will eat itself.

Music soundtrack by Peter Cook. Available on Bandcamp with all proceeds going towards our campaign.

Brexit has failed

The film has already produced a visceral reaction from a leave voter who has clearly been affected by the film’s dystopian machine-styled soundtrack (deliberate) and the speed / brevity of the messages. He appears to have been somewhat triggered by the experience, which is good. Sadly, ‘Alan the Hat’ has no collateral in terms of his own research, content etc. Nor does he have any followers on his You Tube channel. I aim to provide a good (free) service and admittedly packed a lot of text into two minutes. Alan clearly has problems reading big words and sentences that are more difficult than “the cat bit the dog”, so I have provided a summary of the points below so he may study them in greater detail.

Brexit in 2024 – a summary

Tory gaslighting on an industrial scale fuelled Brexit. It continues via a daily stream of dead cats to take people off the scent of Brexit. Examples incude the need to incarcerate legal migrants, identity politics, constant scandals etc.

Brexit delivered 4.5% GDP LOSS into perpetuity and a broken NHS which Boris Johnson promised to fix, with the fabled £350 million per week on the bus. Brexit has damaged our resilience as a nation and therefore our ability to settle strikes with public sector workers and so on. Growth is for the birds in such circumstances. We are once again the sick man of Europe.

Cost of living impacts have Brexit as a major contribution. Food inflation has reached 20% There are more to come once border checks come in later in 2024 … In the next 28 days we will see further inflation on goods imported from Europe and barriers to trade for exporters. See Brexit Inflation. The Brexiteers’ explanation of this is that Brussels are ‘punishing’ us. Get real, we are now no longer a member of the golf club hence there are associated costs and barriers. The Golf Club analogy I made in 2018 is prescient here:

Brexit Golf Club Analogy — We are now a third country. Membership had benefits.

Brexit has delivered broken businesses, broken promises, broken lives and broken livelihoods. It is not true to say that Brexit Breaks Britain as this implies that Brexit is done. It is not and I deliberately choose the phrase Brexit’s Breaking Britain as it is more accurate.

Brexit weaponised an increase in racial tension from Brexit extremists such as Patel, Braverman, Badenoch, Anderson, Gullis, Mordaunt, Mogg, Farage, Tice Truss et al. They are responsible for killing people seeking safety from warzones.

Brexit has meant broken promises to farmers, fishermen, police, teachers, social carers et al. As a small example, the British replacement for the Common Agricultural Policy does not compare in any way to what we had, faults and all. Listen to the farmer in the FT film below for more on his topic.

Perhaps one of the real reasons for Brexit is yet to materialise … ‘Singapore on Thames’ beckons, with the ‘sale of the century’ via SEZs and a return to a feudal society. If you want to understand what an SEZ is, read @EuropeanPowell’s explanation of what you are about to receive whilst you are being gaslit by tales of royal cancers and gender reassignment..

Extract from @EuropeanPowell’s work. Follow him on Twitter.

Brexit is not done per Boris Johnson’s lie of an ‘oven ready deal’. Impacts will continue for the next decade.

Liz Truss’ experiment in Brexonomics cost an uncool £70 billion and ruined young people’s hopes of home ownership in just 49 days. Just imagine what the Brexit hardcore could achieve.

Boris Johnson used COVID to literally ‘mask’ Brexit impacts … what I termed a ‘Britastrophe‘.

Brexit means a loss of freedom of movement, student exchange scheme and more travel friction / costs. All of this is self inflicted as part of our so-called democratic referendum.

Both the Tories and Labour are presently engaged in distraction, distortion and dead cattery, in their attempts to erase the mistake of Brexit and secure votes. Brexit has so far claimed five Prime Ministers. It will also claim Keir Starmer.

Brexit will continue to break Britain unless we Join the EU anew. We can do this. The door remains open and even The Telegraph are now recommending it.

All the while, Labour are asleep at the wheel of Brexit misfortune. Keir Starmer cannot deliver his transformation without recovering our resilience.

‘Stop the boats’ has failed. It was yet another dead cat to channel people’s anger in the Daily Mail / Excess. In any case, better answers to migration are available. See our immigration algorithm.

The damage of Brexit is cumulative and much of it irreversible. Labour’s talk of rejoining from 2032 is therefore disingenuous and despicable.

We are essentially Sunakered. Listen to our dialogue with James O’Brien on this point.

Brexorcisms still needed

Do have a look at the FT film which overall gives a good coverage of the state of our Brexit nation. I am disappointed at the lack of fact checking of some of the statements by Matthew Elliot. Where the film falls short is in the area of leadership, preferring instead to look for incremental adjustments which will not address the elephant in the room. A few mealy mouthed journalists apologise for Keir Starmer’s “management by focus groups”. Peter Foster makes the error that, since nobody wants to talk about Brexit, it will go away as an issue dividing families. Perhaps he needs to study the psychology of ‘closure’ a bit more carefully. Sure, the word Brexit can be airbrushed out of public discourse and there has been a concerted effort by politicians on most sides to do so, but the ‘dark mark’ of Brexit will be left on society unless the issue is resolved. Resolution can come through a number of means and not just another referendum. As I said in 2019, “Let’s Talk About Brexit“, maybe the title of their film acknowledges this need. Martin Wolf comes out head and shoulders above the rest of the journos and politicos with an honest appraisal of the mess that we’re in. We do need to talk about Brexit. Conduct a Brexorcism today.

Worth 30 minutes of your time.

Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s Brexit in numbers from official Government figures and other trusted sources:

Books — Some of our books. Click the image to check them out on Amazon.

Check our article Dover and Out

Order leaflets to destroy the Tories

Buy us a coffee

Join us on Mon 8th April 8 pm via ZOOM

Finally, Marina Purkiss and Max Robespierre nail Keir Starmer in this pithy piece:

Posted in Boris Johnson, Brexit, Brexorcism, Britain, Britastrophe, Corona, Democracy, Economics, Europe, Immigration, Overton Window, Politics, Racism, Rejoin EU | Tagged Boris Johnson, Brexit, Britastrophe, Rejoin EU, Rishi Sunak | 4 Replies

Emergency budget

Updated on

28/03/2025 by author

Peter Cook

Rachel Reeves’ financial statement aka emergency budget landed yesterday. Labour have abandoned their principles of support for those in most need in society. And yet, a simple remedy to our woes is at hand … to end Brexit and apply to Rejoin the EU immediately. Brexit is costing us £140 Million every year. Much more than the floor sweepings she is trying to hoover up from the poor, needy and vulnerable.

Trumpaction costs

Worst of all, buggered by Brexit, Labour are forced to go with a begging bowl to TrumPutin. What transaction costs will Trump require to cut Labour a bit of slack? The price will be high for sure as transactional (trumpactional) negotiation is all that Trump understands.

Will we have to give in to the sale of the NHS?

Will Britain allow US crap food to be dumped on our kids?

Will Britain be expected to place further distance from Europe?

Will Britain have to withdraw support partially or wholly from Ukraine?

Reeves should know that by dealing with Trump, she is dealing with Putin.

Reeves and Moartar

There are better answers than kowtowing to psychopaths … Rejoin the EU, starting NOW.

Britain cannot indulge in full-on direct trade wars as we are now weakened by Brexit as we are now about as important as Panama. We can however be more creative than that, by indulging in what are known in the trade as “assymetric actions”. The most obvious one is applying to Rejoin the EU. We must also postpone the state visit. There are many other things that Trump wants to run his MAGA America First industry. We could simply redirect these resources to other countries. We are not stronger than Trump, but we can be cleverer. At this point in time Reeves and Starmer are in the “Chamberlain position”.

Unite and Survive Trump

This is what lies ahead if Britain doesn’t stand up to Trumputin:

Your poor huddled masses, let’s club ’em to death. And get it over with and just dump ’em on the boulevard. Lou Reed.

Buy us a coffee (or more) via WISE, BACS, Go Fund Me etc. if you wish to help us do more.

Posted in Brexit, Brexorcism, Britain, Labour, Rejoin EU, Trump | Tagged Brexit, Rejoin EU | Leave a reply

Thank the Lords

Updated on

09/03/2025 by author

Peter Cook

We recently gained this endorsement for the book Reboot Britain from Lord Heseltine:

“Thank you for your letter of 19th February. I am glad you are undertaking this work which is both needed and timely”.

The Rt Hon the Lord Heseltine CH

Please send the book to MPs and influencers in advance of the Rejoin EU debate on March 24. Get copies at Amazon. Or get 60% author discount copies direct via reboot@brexitrage.com If you want us to send the books, please support us via PayPal, Go Fund Me or BACS via e-mail.

We are also planning some events to mark the debate. These need support as well. Give us our star back …

Posted in Brexit, Brexorcism, Britain, European Movement, Rejoin EU | Tagged Brexit, Conservatives, Rejoin EU | Leave a reply

Press Release – Brexit Betrayal?

Updated on

13/02/2025 by author

Peter Cook

The people have spoken – 100 000 people want a debate on Rejoining the EU. But the Government have already responded, stating that Brexit is done. It’s not f…king good enough. Only 11% of British people now want to carry on with Brexit. When the facts change, we must change! Please send this press release to journalists and anyone that will listen. Text version and image below for use in e-mails and on social media. Or just share this article.

PRESS RELEASE

BREXIT BETRAYAL? – Democracy Denied?

Sir Keir Starmer has not yet granted a meaningful debate about Rejoining the EU, following a democratic mandate by 100 000 citizens of Britain, via an OFFICIAL Government petition.

The system requires 100 000 signatures to trigger a mass debate. We have faithfully followed the rules, but no debate has been offered thus far. Instead Starmer has hardened Brexit by demonising ALL migrants, whether legally here or not, and opted out of global standards on AI. These are the actions of a Cabinet consumed by “Farageosis Nervosa” and “Trumpius Maximus”, virulent neurological conditions which can only be cured by “mass Brexorcism”.

“It’s yet another Brexit Betrayal. Even people who voted for Brexit in my area are disgusted at Starmer’s denial of democracy. It’s bad karma for Starmer if we can’t support the rule of law.”

Peter Cook, Brexorcist in Chief, Reboot Britain.

Cook edited a book Rejoin EU: Reboot Britain, together with 60 people across UK and Europe, including former Labour MEPs, a KC and subject experts across many fields. Reboot Britain offers a clear guide to opportunities afforded and threats avoided by embalming Brexit in formaldehyde before burial at sea. No one should assume that breaking Brexit before Brexit breaks Britain is the single magic bullet solution to all Britain’s problems. But the positive impact of returning the UK to the heart of Europe will be wide ranging and felt right across the socio-economic, political, technological, environmental and ethical landscape. Without our European allies, Britain risks being isolated in an increasingly dangerous world. The threat posed by the four horsemen of the “populypse” (populist apocalypse): Trump, Musk, Farage, Putin brings Brexit Britain’s unsplendid isolation into sharp relief.

“Only 11% of those who voted for Brexit now want to ‘Carry on Brexit’. What a carry on!”

Peter Bone, Pensioner, Chelmsford.

We demand a full public debate on Rejoining the EU, not a late-night sub-committee hearing or 15 minutes before afternoon tea in the House of Lords.

“Britain deserves better than Brexit now that we know what Brexit really means.”

Klara Goldy, UK Chair G100 Global Mission.

For an exclusive interview contact us on 07725 927585 or reboot@brexitrage.com

ENDS

Posted in Brexit, Keir Starmer, Rejoin EU | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Rejoin EU | 6 Replies

To Rejoin or not to Rejoin

Updated on

07/02/2025 by author

Peter Cook

Last week was a bit of a bumper ride. I attended the UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) event in London on Tuesday, then Stella Creasy’s Labour For Europe event on Thursday. I also spoke with James O’Brien on Brexit Day 31 January !! We have also started some musical and activist projects. Settle in for a long read ….

Before we begin, We are supporting Robert McMaster’s petition to force a debate about Rejoining in Parliament. The petition had stalled at 69 000 signatures with virtually no activity. In just three days we restarted the flywheel, adding 13 000 to the total and more since. Please sign and share, then send copies of our book to MPs and influencers. 60% author discount copies for those who don’t wish to use Amazon via e-mail reboot@brexitrage.com

Watch our latest videos on the project:

UKICE event highlights

UK in a Changing Europe hosted an event with Sir John Curtice, Prof Anand Menon, Prof Catherine Barnard and Sarah Hall, hosted by the BBC’s Jo Coburn. Labour stayed away from the event which surprised me. Catherine Barnard began by confirming our own view that the problem with Brexit is political paralysis and suggested that lawyers would be happy to sort the ‘wiring’ out if the politicians ever developed backbones (my words, not hers). John Curtice explained why Labour are reluctant to move the Overton window to bring Brexit back into view, stating that a referendum would consume a lot of political energy. Our settled view is that if Labour don’t confront the Brexit elephant in the room, there will be no substantial growth and therefore no second term. Anand Menon suggested that there would not be sufficient time for any Rejoin benefits to flow through. I believe that this is based on the liberal elitist assumption that a referendum is needed and therefore a lot of time would be needed to orchestrate such a decision. Also, the strategic intent to rejoin would be sufficient to boost confidence in business and markets, so I beg to differ with courtesy Anand. Views like this from academics, prominent Remain figures such as Jon Danzig and ‘peaceful warriors’ play straight into Labour’s hands when they say that that nobody wants to go back through the arguments over rejoining. Yet we all know the polling data. Yes, people don’t want to go back through a lengthy national soul searching process again, but this assumes that one is needed. From my own research, I find that the vast majority of people would not be that troubled if Brexit were made to go away quickly and without fuss. We say, let Parliament do the job they are paid to do. A referendum may only be needed as a confirmatory step, and then a simple, short process with fully fact checked information. See Reboot Britain for the reasons we say this.

On the other side of the debate, I find that some Remainers unwittingly reinforce and mirror the views of Remoaners, some of whom have pathologised victimhood, as articulated by this view from one of our co-authors Paul Cawthorne:

Curtice importantly confirmed our view that the time is now to campaign for rejoin. The entire session is below on video. Although I took comfort from Catherine Barnard and John Curtice’s remarks, overall the tone of the debate was one of ‘learned helplessness’, perhaps informed by fears and fantasies about what the far right might do if Labour were to take decisive action to stem the flow of blood from Brexit rather than apply more bandages. Leadership is needed from Labour rather than followership aka management by driving through the rear view mirror. My question to the panel can be found at 1.05.47 ish onwards. I gave books to Jo Coburn and John Curtice and our 1:1 conversations were candid about the need for leadership rather than handing the country to Farage and his wolves.

Stella Creasy’s Labour In Europe Event

Undoubtedly Labour have not stooped to the depths of depravity that 14 years of Tory rule have delivered in terms of divide and conquer politics, austerity on steroids and victimisation of vulnerable people via Brexit on crack cocaine. So the Tories should have been an easy ‘support act’ for Labour to follow. Labour’s first moves in power have however been somewhat awkward, as brilliantly parodied by Larry and Paul. That said, we must not underestimate the difficult of turning a super tanker round mid ocean after 14 years of degradation with some people still on deck trying to lock the ship onto icebergs.

In Labour’s search for “growth by 1000 ameliorations” whilst ignoring the Brexit elephant in the room, they will find it difficult, dare we say impossible to deliver the levels of growth required to win a 2nd term in office. By the end of the evening, Stella Creasy seemed a little rattled by an audience of remainers for ‘going on about Brexit’. Possibly in a moment of sheer frustration, she brought up the bogey man of rule by Elon Musk if we did not ‘get over it’. She seemed somewhat irritated by the encounter and took me to task over my suggestion that Keir Starmer needed more confidence to take tough decisions. This was the essence of my question to Stella:

I stood for Parliament in 2024 against Labour. I say against but my candidacy was solely to split the Tory vote in a safe seat. I recommended that people vote for Labour at all Hustings events, something that political candidates don’t do. Having spoken with Labour MPs and MEPs I am told that Labour’s strategy will be to consider rejoining in 2032. When I explain to them that (a) all the Brexit damage will be complete by then (b) much of it will be irreversible like some chemical reactions and (c) since there is no appetite to discuss Brexit in 2024, no one will be able to connect their lived experience with Brexit as a contributory cause in 2032, Labour MPs agree with me that the idea of rejoining later is disingenuous at best. At the hustings Naushabah Khan (Labour) stated that Brexit did not come up on the doorstep in defence of Labour’s position. I agreed, stating that all the front of mind issues that did come up on the doorstep (Cost of Living, NHS, social care etc.) had at least one foot in Brexit as a contributory factor. I used the Brexit iceberg to illustrate my point. Nashabah did not challenge my analysis. The Conservatives and Labour passively colluded to move Brexit out of the Overton window in favour of its offspring.

Brexit is the turd that won’t flush whether we pretend we can’t smell it or not.

Our internal sources tell us that Keir Starmer is naturally cautious and need a lot of support to make bold decisions. By fearing Farage, Starmer is “managing by driving through the rear view mirror” rather than leading. And when he says we won’t rejoin in his lifetime, he means his political lifetime. It may come soon without a little more risk taking. Perhaps this week’s incremental moves in Brussels are a kind of “national focus group” to test reactions. If nobody blinks, he moves another inch and so on. The right wing media and the Farage extremists have all cried “surrender” just because he went to Brussels at all … if that’s the reaction to an entirely trivial set of proposals, he may as well be hung for a sheep than a lamb. See sunk costs in the book.

I came away a little disheartened by the tone of the event which appeared to be telling us that ‘mum and dad knows best’. Although I would rather have open heart surgery without an anaesthetic than vote Reform UK, I came away with a strong understanding as to why others would. The more that people in Labour tried to defend the indefensible, the more toxic the comments became via the online chat. In hindsight, I think this dialogue may have been better handled in a real life event than on ZOOM, where feedback can go unheard and views build up like a pressure cooker. I was pleased however to see that my MP was brave enough to share my reactions to the event on social media and Nigel Farage is incandescent that Starmer signed a paper in the same building that Edward Heath used many years ago. Nigel really cares about the people of Britain of course but seems trapped by the iconography …

Brexorcists in Chief

On Friday I had a dialogue with James O’Brien about the last Remaining Brexiteers. There are not many people flying the flag for Brexit now, some 11% in fact. They mostly now fall into two categories: The people who still believe that the EU is an unelected superstate and who vote for Nigel Farage (himself elected to the EU as an MEP!!) and the racists / xenophobes. Gone are the people who voted for Brexit to stick it to Cameron, the ones who believed in the £350 million on the bus, Mogg’s lies about cheap food and shoes and so on. Are we to die on a hill for these people with Keir Starmer? Here’s the interview with James:

We also wrote a new song in partnership with Paul Cawthorne in Italy. Brexit’s in the air is a rewrite of the Wet Wet Wet song – the band title is “Slightly Red” to reflect Labour’s current positioning. Don’t just graze on the website, download the track and support our work.

Farage: Make Shit Happen

Finally, we rewrote a Sham 69 song around the story of Nigel Farage’s nephew, convicted for upskirting in the Co-Op in Orpington. How bizarre.

Keep on keeping on

Keep sending hard copies of the Rejoin EU book to MPs, influencers etc. …

Posted in Brexit, Brexorcism, Britain, Keir Starmer, Rejoin EU | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Keir Starmer, Rejoin EU | Leave a reply

Farming Today

Updated on

21/01/2025 by author

Peter Cook

The decision by Keir Starmer to charge inheritance tax will affect a number of farmers who are, in the vernacular, asset rich, but cash poor. For example, a farm with an asset value of £8 million but average profits of £19 000 pa will face a tax bill of £1.2 million on the death of its owner. This is yet another example of a Government looking round desperately for cash to drive recovery, although the actual amounts gained are relatively small.

Many farmers were duped by the Brexit sales pitch in 2016. It is at the root of the problem. The Conservative Government’s promised replacement for the Common Agricultural Policy was very poor in comparison with what we had in the EU. Today, the far right and Deform UK are to hijack the farmer’s protests, instead of admitting that it is THEY who the root cause of farmers’ problems, having sold them the lies of “BSE” (Brexit Surrealistic Exaggerations).

Dr Charlie Clutterbuck writes on the Brexit mistake for food, farming, land and labour. Here’s an extract from our White Paper on the topic.

If we were to admit that the Brexit elephant is at the heart of our problems and apply to Rejoin EU, we would not need to be doing this, nor punish other groups through measures which don’t help Britain grow.

Write letters to MPs, influencers and mainstream media using our white paper, exec summary and template letter.

This excellent piece by Sumi Olson:

Sorry (not sorry) but those pushing the farming hysteria need an absolute fcking reality check. The very same group who ignored strong warnings about the devastating impact brexit would have on farming, and who voted time and again for the actual political party that signed international deals that undercut UK farmers, undermined our food and environmental safety standards, are now reaping what they sowed.

And aided by the right wing media pumping out misinformation/disinformation fed by the tories and the millionaire agricultural land investing tax dodgers, they’re gaslighting everyone into blaming Labour for their current difficulties. I simply refuse to wring hands for people who are blaming others for a crisis of their own making (in that voting has consequences). Labour’s October inheritance tax measures are not responsible for the last eight years’ worth of farming difficulties.

Yes, things are very, very hard for farmers- as Remainers told them it would be if they voted for Brexit (and the tories), and urgent measures have to be done to help them. But get a fucking grip. Don’t let those who made policy these last 14 years play you into blaming a party which only took power before Summer Recess.

I’m fully aware commercial farmers work extremely hard to produce their harvests for domestic and overseas consumption. And every nation needs to be able to feed itself as much as possible. I am very supportive of farmers who farm ethically and sustainably. I’m very supportive of vocational, family business, small farmers. But I’m not prepared to swallow this narrative that this is all Labour’s fault and farmers are Labour’s victims. No, many farmers played a hand in this situation, and need to acknowledge it.

Analysis from Farmers’ Weekly: 7 years after Brexit, farmers count the cost: Increased red tape, a worsening economic situation, damaging free-trade deals, a trail of broken promises – it seems that farmers and those working in the ancillary industries are far from satisfied with Brexit.

That is the inevitable conclusion from a new survey by Farmers Weekly into how the agricultural sector now perceives Brexit, seven years on from the historic referendum of 23 June, 2016.

Posted in Brexit, Farage, Farming, Fascism, Rejoin EU | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Farming, Rejoin EU | Leave a reply

Thank the Lords

Updated on

21/01/2025 by author

Peter Cook

A group of us from all over Europe have just written to Lord Darroch about our wh ite paper on Rejoining the EU after he published a piece in the Observer about Trump and our place in Europe. Here is the letter on Rejoining the EU, which you may adapt for your own purposes for use with Ambassadors, Lords and influencers:

Dear Lord Darroch of Kew KCMG,

We read with great interest your piece in The Observer on Sunday, where you mention the UK’ relationship with the EU. We are Reboot Britain, a network organisation that campaigns for a Better Britain in a Better Europe for a Better World

We write to appraise you of a comprehensive cross-party white paper on the question of rejoining the EU by 60 members of our network. You are right. The government’s painfully slow and minimalist reset towards the UK EU reset is not good enough. It amounts to a slow decline of Britain by 1000 ameliorations.

Public perception is now at the point where a number of polls suggest that 2/3 of British people realise that Brexit was a mistake and that we should rejoin as a priority. Sadly political paralysis accompanies the apparent “will of the people” in this respect. It is unlikely that UK growth will be possible by “ignoring the Brexit elephant in the room”. We are sure that, particularly given the likely governance inclination of President Elect Trump, you will agree the much needed “growth” in the UK economy is impossible outside of Europe. We potentially face a further depression in the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) growth predictions for the next four years.

We would urge you to read the report and would be very happy if you were to circulate it to interested parties that you know. A two-page Executive Summary is attached also. If at all possible, we would like to meet for an open dialogue without prejudice in Westminster or at a place of your choosing. Would this be possible?

Yours sincerely.

Alan David – MBA, Member of the International Systems Dynamics Society,

Fellow of the Institute for Teaching and Learning 07729 828360

Michael Hindley – Three term MEP, Vice President of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee. Coordinator of the Former MEPs’ Guest Lecturers Programme.

Colonel Terence Knott MC – President, Amicale Europe Pays de Fayence, France

Peter Cook – MBA, MRSC C. Chem, FCIPD, Leader, Reboot Britain 07725 927585

Sign the petition and share

Write to your MP

Download the white paper

Posted in Brexit, Rejoin EU | Tagged Brexit, Politics, Rejoin EU | Leave a reply

Project 2025

Updated on

11/01/2025 by author

Peter Cook

No, not occupy Greenland !! The real Project 2025 is to Rejoin the EU. Our new book is out. Order your copies on Amazon. To get multiple discount copies at author discount of just £3.50 plus P&P, please mail me via reboot@brexitrage.com The main uses of the book are to:

Send physical copies to MPs, journalists and influencers in UK and Europe. A physical copy is a coffee table item and much more likely to be read than a digital copy of the book.

Place in cafes, libraries, universities (e.g. politics / history courses), pubs, clubs, book clubs and other social settings to change minds about Brexit and Europe.

Use it for the basis of talks to communities to Brexorcise groups.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DSHBXLL1

Here is the press release. Feel free to use it on social media.

Sir Keir Starmer has stated that there is no case to Rejoin the EU. We disagree and 60 of us wrote this book to explain why the case for applying to Rejoin the EU is overwhelming and urgent. This will help as part of a strategy to Reboot Britain and begin the path towards sustainable growth.

Although ending Brexit and applying to Rejoin the EU is not a one size fits all magic bullet solution to Britain’s problems, the impacts will be wide ranging and felt right across the STEEPLE factors. (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal and Ethical). Contrary to what some might say, Brexit is far from done. However, we are done for if we refuse to confront the Brexit elephant in the room. It is not so much that we must Rejoin the EU, but that we cannot afford not to do it.

Please send the book to MPs, influencers, journalists, friends, family and those few who still think that Brexit was a good idea, poorly executed. It will begin the Brexorcism conversation anew, now that 2/3 of the population accept that Brexit was a mistake.

Featuring contributions from Dr Charlie Clutterbuck (Author, Bittersweet Brexit), Michael Hindley (former MEP), Ian Forrester KC, Wendy Nowak, Mark Sampson (Iron Man Records), Helga Perry, Terence Knott (President Amicale Europe Pays de Fayence), Paul Cawthorne, Julie Ward (former MEP), David Powell, Sue Bird, Adrian Ekins-Daukes (former EU Commission diplomat), Paul Weller, Irina Fridman, John Falch, Kevin McDonald, Judith Spencer and Andrew Hessleden.

You may also enjoy our other publications : “Reboot Britain” – a book on the gentle art and discipline of Brexorcism and “Private Eyelines” – a book on Brexit satire which busts the myths of Brexit using the power of humour mixed with facts.

Posted in Brexit, Education, Keir Starmer, Labour, Leadership, Populism, Rejoin EU | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Rejoin EU | Leave a reply

Reasons to be helpless

Updated on

08/01/2025 by author

Peter Cook

I spend a lot of time on social media listening to earnest Remainers and Rejoiners. They are all good people and mean well. They mostly don’t want to upset others and that’s a strength. But it also has a serious downside. I remind them (often with social disapproval) that we, the Remainers, lost three elections and a referendum by being nice and playing fair. Before you jump to any conclusions, I’m not suggesting that we should be horrible or play unfair here. But we must better the far-right rather than copying them or, worse still, amplifying their cause by sharing their stuff with disgust. I regularly hear these excuses for doing nothing about Rejoining the EU. They are all invalid, bar the last one.

Fear of the Grim Reapers, Grifters and GB News

Things people say include “If we or Labour mention Rejoin, Nigel will get elected” and “The Daily Mail won’t like it/me/us“. Organising your strategy by constantly being in response mode to Nigel Farage is rather like trying to drive a car by constantly looking through the rear view mirror. The Daily Mail et al. don’t like anything that Keir Starmer’s Government do and they react just as strongly to the miniscule items (e.g. a youth mobility scheme) as the big ones (e.g. rejoining the EU). Might as well be hung for a sheep than a lamb … in accountancy terms, Starmer’s outlook on the EU is a sunk cost as it is well known that he believes that Brexit was a mistake. The ’embedded commands’ of the Remainers typically come wrapped in statements like this:

“Keir is still a remainer at heart, he just needs to be cautious“.

“We must avoid pandering to the metropolitan liberal elite as the Far Right media will slaughter us”.

“We can “make Brexit work” without rejoining anything“.

“We only have to worry about the red wall as liberal minded pro-Europeans will always vote for us“. Just a reminder, the red wall did not vote for Labour in 2024. Labour have a job of mass Brexorcism to do with this group.

“Ultra-Remainers”, the “rejoin or nothing brigade” are naïve and deluded“. Read our White Paper and mail it to MPs, influencers and media people. Brexit isn’t working. It can never work.

Respectfully, I say, horseshit. I realise this gets me the reputation of being the Nigel Farage of Remain, but the truth hurts.

False Gods

Things this group of people say include “We must wait until 2035. Keir is playing the long game“, “Brexit is done“. Strangely, the farmer’s wife Liz Webster says this on BBC Radio 4 in order to pursue her farmers before Brexit agenda alongside Farage and Clarkson. Given her media reach, it is a dangerous and incorrect narrative. I know that Jon Danzig falls into this category as well, along with some of the larger so called Remainer groups such as The European Movement. Given their reach, all this does is feed people “learned helplessness”. As ex MEP Michael Hindley says, we need to be in the business of installing a sense of hope in the Rejoin community.

Other objections relate to flawed ideas about democracy: “It would be anti-democratic to Rejoin“. “We would need another referendum“. All these objections are addressed in the White Paper.

Body parts

Perhaps due to 8 years of psychic bullying by Johnson, Mogg, Braverman, Truss, Farage, Jenrick, Badenoch et al, Remainers are happy to accept ‘crumbs from the table’. Yet these will not deal with the underlying problems of Brexit. They say things like this, often believing that if we make a small ask (a) The Daily Excess won’t notice it (THEY DO) and (b) that this will lead to rejoining by stealth. They seem to forget that journalists notice if Keir Starmer wears new socks, let alone if he sends people to Brussels for ‘talks’. Here are some of the increments they mention:

“No, we must get carnets for musicians“.

“No, we must back the farmers“.

“No to rejoin, we must join the Single Market“.

“No, we must restore Freedom of Movement for young people“

We address the problem of logical incrementalism in the White Paper. Expect better!!

Gantt chart problems

Without ever producing a Gantt chart or analysis of strategy or politics, I find that people have many different ‘orders and sequences’ as to what is the right way to go about Rejoining the EU. This itself is a function of the lack of leadership and strategy from the movement as a whole and our ‘Indonesian’ organisation structure. Things like:

“We must fight Elon Musk first“.

“We must get the economy back on track first“.

“We must get democratic reform first“.

“We need to tackle the ‘bread and butter’ issues in Britain first“.
All are dealt with in the paper. Download it. There are as many formulations of what we should or must do about Brexit as there are protagonist. I call it ‘musturbation’.

Pure excuses

“It’s Sunday. We can’t ask to Rejoin on a Sunday. Or any other day ...”

“We (I) will look silly if the EU say no“.

“I’m quite busy this year … and the next ...”

“The month has an R in it“.

“Nobody’s interested in the EU anymore“.
“The EU don’t want us back“.
“We can “make Brexit work” without rejoining anything“.
“We can’t do it as it would mean Schengen and the Euro“.
“Cameron told us it was a “once in a generation decision” so we have to wait another 20 years“.

“The cat died“. That’s clearly the best excuse !!

With thanks to Paul Cawthorne for his help with this. Please read our White Paper and sign the petition.