Lockethenes

Shocking to see someone who helped sell Brexit blame Labour for its failure to deliver the promised benefits. John Longworth was chairman of Vote Leave’s Business Council, co-chairman of Leave Means Leave and a Brexit Party MEP. He was a prominent advocate who helped persuade the public that leaving the EU would make Britain better off. The Conservatives called the referendum, negotiated the withdrawal agreement, chose the terms of our future trading relationship and won an 80-seat majority promising to “Get Brexit Done”. They had the parliamentary power to implement their vision. Labour was in opposition throughout those decisions. Longworth himself told a parliamentary committee that leaving the single market and customs union was necessary to realise Brexit’s “enormous benefits”. Those departures were central to the version of Brexit he championed. They also brought trade barriers between Britain and its largest neighbouring market. There is another irony here. When Longworth was an MEP, Britain helped make EU rules. We had elected representatives in the European Parliament, ministers voting in the Council and a place in negotiations shaping decisions across the continent. Brexit surrendered those formal powers. Where British businesses must meet EU rules to sell into its market, they still have to comply, but Britain no longer has the votes or representation to help decide those rules. The promise of taking back control came with a substantial loss of influence. Labour can be held accountable for its own decisions. But the cheek of blaming Labour for the consequences of choices Longworth spent years championing, after personally helping sell their supposed benefits, is extraordinary.