Terry Su

Opinion | Time for struggling Britain to swallow its pride and return to the EU fold

Post-Brexit Britain finds itself in dire economic straits, with crushed delusions of global glory and disappointed hopes of US support

Yet if it seizes this moment to rejoin the EU – currently grappling with the Ukraine war and US trade policy – it may just find itself welcomed back with open arms

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An anti-Brexit protester hugs a man while holding a placard on Brexit day in London, Britain, on January 31, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Terry Su

Published: 3:30am, 28 Feb 2023

I wrote some two years ago that “it could be three, five or 10 years before Britain rejoins the EU” and “giving up the pound could be a key part of the deal”. I stand by the judgment.

Interestingly, Guy Verhofstadt, former chief Brexit negotiator of the European Parliament, recently spoke along similar lines when he tweeted about his “dream” of Britain, together with Ukraine, “joining the EU in the next five years”.

Indeed, it is in its own interest that London moves towards rejoining the European Union. Britain, standing alone as it does now, is hardly going anywhere, while it should see profit in returning to the fold.

By the time former prime minister Boris Johnson was forced out of No 10 Downing Street last September, Brexit was done with and “Global Britain” was being promoted as an alternative to the EU, which the UK had turned its back on following the referendum in June 2016.

With subsequent trade agreement initiatives turning out to be little more than a collection of ornamental non-events, London has found itself in dire economic, financial and diplomatic straits – so much so that some commentators have pronounced post-Brexit Britain “the sick man of Europe”. Even India, its former “crown jewel” colony, overtook it to become the world’s fifth-largest economy in GDP terms last year.

As for the US, not only does it refuse to extend a helping hand to its most faithful follower on the international scene, it even has no qualms about bashing London when it executes policies Washington doesn’t like.