The Labour Manifesto was clear. The next Labour government would not put us back into the Single market, or into the Customs Union and open borders with freedom of movement.
We read that the UK government think they could create a new single market area of the EU and the UK. The EU as the larger party will say the way to do that is for the UK to join the EU ‘s single market. They will not allow changes of rules, or joint decision taking or opt outs. They would also demand a big UK budget contribution, freedom of movement and other EU controls over the UK. All this should be a non starter.
The government is mad to think accepting EU rules, taxes and charges would boost our trade. We import much more than we export to the EU, whereas our trade with non EU is much better balanced. Being closer to EU rules and taxes would be used by the EU to boost their sales to us by more than we could boost to them, reducing our net jobs, incomes and wealth. It is bad to want to sell out in this way, wrongly pretending it is not breaking a Manifesto promise .
What does the government think we could sell more of? It is going to ban us selling petrol and diesel cars, new oil and gas, and make it dearer to sell high energy using products. These are all things we sold a lot of. It is giving away much of our fish, preventing expansion of our industry and more exports. We are fortunate indeed that the EU seems to have been wise and turned down this proposal.
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May 24, 2026
Having the Labour government negotiating with the EU on our behalf is like giving a dodgy used car salesman a blank cheque to buy the most worthless and dangerous vehicle they want to dispose of.
May 24, 2026
Raising the prospect of returning to EU membership is Labour’s way of blaming Brexit for the coming economic collapse. They don’t care what damage their economic policies do, their excuse, and solution, is ready to go. They hope it will be sufficiently persuasive to keep them in office if their polling on membership is correct.
May 24, 2026
The Labour Manifesto was clear. The next Labour government would not put us back into the Single market, or into the Customs Union and open borders with freedom of movement.
I think the liebour manifesto came in packs of 9 under the scrolls of being named Andrex because that’s all its good for
May 24, 2026
Yes but this is entry into A single market, not THE single market. So they were completely straight about that, weren’t they?
May 24, 2026
Very little difference. The EU still has control over domestic matters, laws, rules etc not just trade. Trade is one way the EU sells you must buy. Along with free access to the UK and its facilities for all EU Citizens. It makes the UK Parliament redundant (no change there)
May 24, 2026
There can be only one single market or it’s no longer single.
May 24, 2026
Our major exports to the EU were vehicles and petroleum/gas products both of which you rightly say are banned or to be banned.
All the wanabees for PM want us to join the EU because they all belong to the Fabian Society which believes in open borders and technocratic government. Democracy has no place with these people.
I shudder to think what a mess this country will be in by the next election (unless they find a way to cancel it,). Thousands more undocumented military trained males made welcome and having to take our share of EU asylum seekers if we join.
Listening to liebour growing about the reduction i nett immigration without explaining that young, educated people are leaving to be replaced by mainly illiterate benefits claimants, makes my blood boil.
The cauldron is simmering and it won’t be long before it boils over. We may be docile but we have a nasty sting.
May 24, 2026
Seems rather likely yet Reeves complains about a white van man not having sufficiently good manners. I thought he was rather too polite myself.
They get in on a basis of we will smash the gangs, reduce your energy bills, not realign with the EU and not put up NI, VAT or Income tax but they have deliberately done or all planning the reverse on all of these. Is this theft and blatant lies polite and good manners Rachael? Or is it fraudulently defrauding voters?
May 24, 2026
The ultimate binding that would permanently hold the UK to the EU bureaucratic controls would be adoption of the Euro. Blair and many Europhiles Labour and Tory advanced the idea, dropping the £pound would be a good idea. As was stated by those arguing against that idea, it would be the ultimate capitulation and allow foreign actors total control of our economic aspirations.
This latest push by Labour, along with supporters from the LibDems the SNP and the socialist half of the Tory Party to reconnect with the EU by gifting them £billions for association membership of their stifling doomed alliance is plainly anti democratic.
Eternal vigilance is the price of peace and freedom…… that should be the sign over the door of the HoL John.
May 24, 2026
We are going to see the price Ireland and others have to pay to be free. However they really need to do it because then they have a chance. ATM no chance.
They scrapped their opt out of the migration scheme, so on 12th the EU dictates how many migrants Ireland takes.
May 26, 2026
Indeed with rather expensive consequences for the UK too.
May 24, 2026
On the freedom of movement aspect, I think it is astonishing anyone would advocate it especially when we have diminished labour productivity growth and, by consequence, diminished GDP growth too.
Whilst experiencing serious GDP growth issues increasing the labour supply will just diminish labour productivity growth even more and GDP growth too. The last thing we need is even more excess labour supply.
May 24, 2026
Yes we can be quite sure that the EU will be turning down many more of our proposals if they come with this vein of thought.
May 24, 2026
Every day Starmer remains in power (ostensibly) we will be slipped deeper into the clutches of the EU. He is a rabid Europhile.
May 24, 2026
But it is only a step towards achieving Fabian intentions.
May 24, 2026
But that is the level of reasoning this government tries to sell us.
Is this deceit or just the normal logic we get from socialism?
I would say both.
Starmer and co have already decided we should be merged into the EU at any cost, they’re busy now adjusting their weasel words so that it doesn’t look too much like abject surrender.
May 24, 2026
Aligning with the EU in the way Labour want would mean reversing all the VAT reductions Reeves has announced in her summer giveaway and removing VAT on school fees. Their position is incoherent.
May 24, 2026
Possibly the way to have done this from June 24 2016 was to offer the EU a kind of reverse-Swiss deal whereby they paid us an amount according to their trade balance with us. Same time, we’d be able to negotiate new trade deals, keep out of the Euro-related bailouts etc. In the end, we’d have had sovereignty as we could have left this arrangement (as could the EU) with say 5 years written notice. I could probably have accepted the free movement business (all we had to do was to get rid of benefits to overseas claimants or make them as difficult to obtain as for a UK expat in Romania).
Yes, the EU would have rejected it but we would then have been the “aggrieved” party and gone on to WTO terms.
Instead, we have this interminable “rowing back” which makes us look stupid.
May 24, 2026
287 ‘illegal immigrants’ invaded the UK yesterday 23rd May 2026 …still not reported on Sky or BBC news
May 24, 2026
The BBC views the invasion like the sun rising – it happens every day so not news.
May 24, 2026
For two days running my comment has been dismissed. No rude or unpleasant comments, just that the Goivernment on Steel and the EU is utterly incompetent. I am puzzled, but trying again.
Reply Nothing else submitted today
May 24, 2026
Off Topic.
The government spends 25 times as much on benefits for young people than it does on supporting them into work, the author of a major review into youth inactivity has said.
Former minister Alan Milburn told the BBC that this was “shameful” and with nearly a million young people not in work, training or education (Neets), a complete “system reset” was needed. In an exclusive interview with Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Milburn said it was absolutely essential Labour reformed the welfare system, even though the government had shelved some planned benefit reforms in the face of opposition from their own MPs.
The first part of his government-commissioned report into the issue will be published this week.
Milburn’s calculations are based on the amount spent on 16 to 24-year-olds taking part in core employment programmes funded by the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus. Spending on Welfare is based on the amount spent on key benefits like Universal Credit, Job Seekers’ Allowance, Personal Independence Payment (Pip) and Disability Living Allowance. The full methodology will be published in the report later this week.
The former Labour health secretary under Tony Blair was asked by the government to investigate why so many young people were in the position of not working, studying or taking part in training programmes – the highest level for more than 10 years. There were 957,000 young people who were Neet in the UK from October to December 2025 – equivalent to 12.8% of people in that age category, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, released in February. More than half of those were deemed to be economically inactive as they were not looking for work.
May 24, 2026
Why on earth would 28 Countries within a constrained trading block want to change the rules they have already set, and have used for years, for an outsider ?
It will be, ” take it of leave it”, and we decided to leave it !
Unfortunately most of our politicians did not agree at the time, so the chances are that they (our politicians) will accept whatever is offered. !
The truth is most of our Politicians seem incapable of thinking for themselves, hence the poor Brexit agreement, the net Zero fiasco, our immigration failure, and our highest tax take for generations.
May 24, 2026
Tricky chaps, manifestos. I remember Conservative governments a while back arguing that since the future cannot be foretold with much certainty and the true state of the economy cannot be ascertained until the government is in office with full access to all the data and treasury analysis, governments cannot sensibly be held rigidly to their manifestos. Mrs Thatcher was very much opposed to rule by manifesto. So then we had the language of values. But Labour, as Alastair Campbell famously said, “does not do God”. So whence its values? Socialism/communism, the religion of atheists. So we are back to manifesto commitments. The advantage the socialists/communists have over conservatives is that their belief in socialism is absolute. If it goes wrong, as it always does, it is the fault of others. Socialism is not the problem. So, like the EU, when it doesn’t work, what is needed is more socialism, more strongly enforced socialism. “You will obey” is the mantra, for which our Dalek like PM, Starmer, is well suited.
Pragmatic government requires political leaders to analyse the issues they face and to develop solutions in the national interest from first principles in the knowledge that developed philosophies may not produce the right solution every time. Socialists cannot accept this. Socialism is always right. It is absolute. It is the only philosophy on which to build world governance. It is inherently anti-democratic and cannot allow sovereign nation states, especially those founded in Judeo-Christianity (We don’t do God). So the EU, which we thought we had left, heaves into view and the socialists say: look this is our platform, it has all the structural features we want and all it needs is the purity of socialist leadership. We must take Britain into the heart of Europe to create this socialist state at least on a regional if not a world scale.
Britain is suffering with the bacillus of socialism infecting every institution of the state and allied with Islamism by nothing more than shared hatred of the Judeo-Christian foundations of this country.
Reply Thatcher and Cameron stuck to Manifesto pledges.
May 24, 2026
In both 2010 and 2015 Cameron pledged to reduce net migration to the “tens of thousands”. Instead, immigration steadily increased during his time in office.
Mrs T never promised anything in a manifesto she could not be sure of delivering. So she stuck to fundamental principles. That is the essential difference. In 1979, the Conservative manifesto led on the promise to cut income taxes but it was not specific. As it happened, she did slash the top rate from 83% to 40%. No doubt she thought it would have been unwise to commit to a rate before having access to all the treasury data.
May 24, 2026
The Labour ‘manifesto’ and its presumed mandate is not something they would allow the electorate know about, they are things to be contrived after with the full cooperation of Parliament
From yesterday’s media reporting of leaks(BBC, Telegraph, Express and so on) from the EU negotiators it would appear you are behind the curve; the deal has been done. Kier Starmer is expected to sign the UK up to joining the EU in July. The only impediment is he has to fold and allow full EU Citizens access to the UK, for work and facilities. Him not complying is just a moot-point, he hands everything away he hates the UK and its people with a passion.
Can he do that, of course he can he has the full backing of Parliament and the Establishment. Some suggest that would be undemocratic, but ask yourself when we last went under EU Control did the UK Citizen have a say? Of course they didn’t.
The meetings and decisions have all been negotiated in secret, they are still secret accept the EU Negotiators have now told the media and us what Kier Starmer is planning. It is full integration, and full defence cooperation.
Esther McVey has it right – in her video with the Express ‘He’s like STALIN!’ Starmer’s SECRET PLOT to CRUSH Britain Exposed’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=xtgGLeosc8k Unfortunately you have to get passed the adds
To many people are under estimating how far Starmer will go.
May 24, 2026
Isn’t it the (planned-since-2021) meeting part of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement ?
commonslibrary.parliament.uk 17/11/2025 ‘The 2026 Review of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the UK-Ezu reset’?
If it is this meeting it was scheduled five years ago and the ‘reset’ part of it had been advertised since November 2025. Did not look much of a ‘secret’.
But you can always count on journalists to kick up a fuss specially among a particular type of people.
May 24, 2026
Oh do spit it out hefner.
Who exactly are these ” particular type of people” you are sneering about.
May 24, 2026
Yes, The government is mad, supported by a wayward equally mad Parliament maximum damage, 5 year terms give them that luxury.
May 24, 2026
The 5 year term is at the root of inactivity. It allows manifesto and other promises to be ignored until year 4.5 when suddenly lots of concern about what is needed is shown and steps to achieve claimed by another 5 years hence….in other words kicking the can down the road.
May 24, 2026
I am afraid that Manifesto Commitments count for little in the eyes of those who write them: they are just the equivalent of confetti, but thrown at, rather than by, the crowd. The EU knows full well that they can impose whatever conditions they like upon the present Government because, unable to face up to the things that really need doing and changing, they are desperate to show they are doing something, and becoming subservient to the EU and allowing only Green energy are nice easy options beloved by the ‘Elite’.
May 24, 2026
forget it John you are wasting your time
take break, read what Elon tweets about the UK for a few months, then reflect
May 24, 2026
Elon says vote Restore. That’s it in a nutshell.
Their energy policy has been published. A proper paper, part of the Manifesto commitment.
The Rape Gang Paper is to be published shortly. It’s shocking. Labour cannot survive it. Their disdain and contempt for both the law and their voters is laid bare.
May 24, 2026
EU advocates and sycophants take the view that the EU is some benevolent entity looking for symbiotic existence.
It’s not it is a mean behemoth looking after it’s own.
May 24, 2026
John
You really do not understand that 2/3 of the British population would like to rejoin the EU?
But you continue with your Brexit propaganda
Reply I think you mean two thirds are not happy with the Brexit the establishment created/ impeded. The public does not want to go back in with no rebate,with the need to enter the Euro, the loss of our right to make our own laws, set our own taxes and sign our own trade deals. Would cost at least £38 bn a year. What taxes would you impose to pay the EU bill?
May 24, 2026
JR is exactly correct.
Even this sabotaged Brexit has provided growth that enabled the Government to raise its spending by nearly 50%.
We will NEVER GO BACK INTO THE EU, WHICH HOPES SHORTLY TO BE A FEDERATION WITH NO VETO EXERCISED BY ‘MEMBER’ STATES.
May 24, 2026
Our great nation is being attacked on two major fronts: from liberal, WOKE, EU, high-immigration and net-zero madness, socialistic, bureaucratic, high-taxation madness and high-borrowing madness that doesn’t believe in national sovereignty, on the one hand, and a mindless form of culture from the USA that is atomising our society and trying to turn our people into mindless slaves without culture, class, humour, charm, imagination or values (with Trump – as leader – representing the worst of Oscar Wilde’s insight, ‘America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilisation in between’) and that represents a Scrooge-like capitalism (as opposed to the capitalism of Scrooge after his visitation by the ghosts) and where even the middle classes have no guarantee of being looked after if they get a serious illness (expensive medical insurance can turn out to be fairly limited) unlike in our great nation.
May 24, 2026
We effectively have no health care in the U.K. the NHS is a disaster.
There is only one Capitalism and the USA, our successor state, under the U.K. loving President Trump exercises it to the benefit of the population. What has happened in NY is the proof of how successful 47 is.
May 25, 2026
The NHS is not (relatively-speaking) a disaster (although big problems for sure but same for other Western countries – and always room for lots and lots of improvement).
Even though we had private carers, our mum received excellent obligatory cancer and palliative care from the NHS. I had close experience of the NHS for 2.5 years until my mum died a few months ago.
Kudos to the NHS. And also to the local Church-of-England vicar and parish who gave our mother a magnificent funeral and thanks-giving service in a lovely, old, medieval chapel in the wonderful English countryside.
Another reason why I LOVE this country. The care and love she received from the NHS staff, the local C-of-E and parish and neighbours (our mum was new to the area but many local people came to her funeral).
May 25, 2026
But in fairness to my mum, she was always full of humour and friendliness and warmth towards all those NHS staff who treated / looked after her. It was genuine on her part. And they seemed to enjoy treating and looking after her. Sadly, a lot of doctors and nurses don’t receive the respect due to them (I witnessed it many times when visiting my mum in hospital). We focus on patient care. But what about the nurses and doctors and what they have to put up with.
May 25, 2026
Lastly, huge problem in our country (and others) is lack of LOVE (soft and tough love). Which is the main reason why taxation is sooo high and why immigration is so high (and why we get so much stupid politics – which is down to stubbornness and wanting to prove a point and so trying to impress others because of a lack of love and feeling insecure and wanting to impress).
As I grow older, I see how ALL adults from one degree to another are wounded from lack of love. From their parents as children. And then growing up from others.
If you did a survey on the street, and asked people: ‘when was the last time you received some genuine, deep love from someone and who really cared about you?’ I think most people would say, just dribs and drabs. A minority would say a lot. And another minority who say hardly ever in their entire life. And most people would say they’re pretty lonely (part of not being properly loved).
We weren’t created to receive just dribs and drabs of love and to be lonely. But to be overflowing in love from others and to deeply feel being part of a family, community and country. That’s the main reason why everything is so messed up. It’s not politics (although that’s part of the problem). But lack of love.
And if people were more loved, then:
1) Taxation would HUGELY drop (because people would be working harder, less depression, more productivity, more hopeful, less stressed, less addictions, less messed up lives) 2) Immigration would HUGELY drop because we’d be taking care of ourselves etc
There should really be a ministry of love but obviously that’s never going to happen … But we could be more aware of this at least.
May 24, 2026
We are currently ruled by Fabian Marxists. They know what they are doing. They have a mission to destroy the country and don’t care if they are unpopular. In fact they will seek policies that cause impoverishment and causes social division. Hence the desire to re-join the EU. Don’t forget “populism” (aka democracy) they consider to be evil. The HR act was devised to undermine democracy by giving superior rights to minorities. They’re successfully applying the Marxists four Ds – division, disruption, destabilisation and de-industrialisation. So we see them kneeling to the BLM, promoting XY=XX, trashing our history, giving away the Chagos Islands, calling anyone who thinks we should control our borders and fly the national flag as unacceptably “far right” and using the false CAGW scare and its “solution”, Net Zero, to sabotage our energy, industry and national security. I can only hope their efforts will not reduce the country to such a state within the next 3 years that they can declare an emergency, cancel all future elections and make us directly governed by the EU.
May 24, 2026
let’s cut to the quick.To quote Private Fraser “we’re doomed,we’re doomed!” It was a glorious comedy.
Regrettably what we are living is not.
May 24, 2026
The EU is not going to agree to UK alignment with UK on anything that matters like SM, CU or open borders with free movement of people – they are not going to waste their time knowing that Farage’s Reform will be waiting in the long grass.
May 24, 2026
There are issues which would be welcomed as part of an EU ‘review’ which should not mean our joining the EU again.
Touring musicians, performers & the like where the UK has few barriers to those entering the UK from the EU but overcomplicated for our own going to the EU. This was poor negotiation.
The 90 days in 180 days visiting rule imposed on the UK – not reciprocal. Why ?
Security / defence improvements – surely any improvements are to the advantage of us all. The UK’s offer of joining the EU’s Euro 90 billion Ukraine loan scheme is not going to sway those EU high ups into giving us anything, as they have made plain only recently.
Starmer mentioned Food & Phytosanitary issues initially, anticipating possible better sectoral deals, the smoothing of customs and checks; all useful and desirable but we know the EU well. We know that some trading arrangements, paperwork & admin for supermarkets and others are cumbersome & in some cases unnecessarily costly in this day & age.
Science – Horizon Europe Scheme he’s signed up to. Don’t know if that is a good thing I assume so, no costs known yet but an estimate is likely to be £2billion per year we’re told , as and when , so hope it’s worth it.
The EU is adamant on free movement and has pushed relentlessly for its own terms & conditions to be imposed on us re the Youth Mobility Scheme. Why is it we forget that we gave 6 million plus EU citizens rights to our country after our leaving the EU under the EU Settlement Scheme. We even accepted many more after the application deadline date. EU 27 presently, 28th very soon and several other countries to join in the not too distant future. Money needed.
Then we have Erasmus at an initial £570 million to date for the 2027/28 year & more than that thereafter ( They gave us a discount ! )
Little enthusiasm about our involvement with their Energy Market & all that it entails and ‘climate alignment’, the adoption of the Euro, the Migrant quotas with the new EU scheme now imminent, and likely future shared EU debt / fiscal union also worrying.
On any referendum, there would be so much to ask and make plain to the electorate. Are those 2/3 of the UK population said to want in again, happy with what they are saying yes to or are they just being conned by the mention of the 4%, 8% or even 15% take your pick figures they consider our demise. Or is it the queues & phone roaming charges and the extra cost they might have to pay to import a tablecloth ( All three reasons I’ve heard mentioned ) Are they aware of how it will affect their own areas in all sorts of ways .Are they happy with the seizing of power by our rather secretive leader & government forcing through this EU Future Relationship Bill with little parliamentary debate.
May 24, 2026
“We are fortunate indeed that the EU seems to have been wise and turned down this proposal.”
How would we know that? If the Government can sign secret deals with China, why not with the EU? One of the advantages our rulers use as members of the EU is the ability to say one thing to the EU/at EU meetings and something completely different to their electorates.
May 24, 2026
It is not about trade, nor the economy. It is about expanding and deepening supranational government and escaping the democratic accountability that is necessitated by the existence of sovereign nation states. Starmer’s Gang and the Woke Left don’t like sovereign nation states. They believe they should be replaced entirely by a global socialist structure ruled by those who know best, ie., themselves.
May 24, 2026
The government is mad to think accepting EU rules, taxes and charges would boost our trade
It’s a mistake to take the government at their word and to believe their professed motives. They have (I believe knowingly) steered the country into extreme debt and an economic maelstrom precisely so they can persuade voters that we need the EU to ‘save’ us. Once they have engineered our re-entry, they can then stop pretending to govern and blame all the ills on Brussels.
May 25, 2026
Very dangerous situation as this government has found out it does not know how to run the country so is turning to put us back in jail and let the jailers run riot over us again. Must be stopped at all costs.