Britain should seek to rejoin EU, says civil servant who led Brexit department
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/24/britain-should-rejoin-eu-philip-rycroftOpen linkView original on lemmy.zipSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on lemmy.ziphttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/24/britain-should-rejoin-eu-philip-rycroftOpen linkView original on lemmy.zip
13 replies
The EU should give the UK good terms: the same terms everyone else is on. Nothing more, nothing less.
The opt outs were bad for the UK and the EU and good riddance. If we rejoin we will actually have to commit fully instead of the default position being opting out of things because the right wing don't like them.
Sadly I think it's still 10 years away from even being a realistic possibility. Although Trumps behaviour is doing a good job of accelerating changes in attitude so maybe it will be sooner.
Before admitting any new members, the EU must fix its decision making process, though (get rid of unanimity), and implement a process for expelling members.
The UK has in the past abused its veto powers to force decisions disadvantageous for the entire EU on behalf of the US. Nobody needs that shit back.
Getting rid of unanimity is going to be an issue, I think it's better to limit the degree to which unanimity can be employed and to which EU-wide votes could affect the regional areas. For example, if the EU were seized by far-right parties, whether or not they held a majority, then what?
I think the EU's first priorities above all must be:
All other elements are secondary.
This means we need, in no particular order:
a. To combat social media algorithms
b. Get people off corporate controlled social media, towards social media controlled by the people themselves.
c. Green up ASAP. The sooner we will be self-sufficent, the sooner we reap the benefits. Solar, wind, water, even nuclear.
d. Try to fling the US back into democracy ASAP.
e. Destroy Russia's military capacities.
f. Support own small and mid-sized industries and services.
100% agree. I'm Scottish and have been more than a little angry that the "United" Kingdom did this stupid fucking shit to (all of) us here.
There’s the Copenhagen Criteria for new members which requires a commitment to sign up to the Euro.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_criteria
They get the same terms as everyone else.
Not necessarily. Things will be negotiated. We'll see how desperate they are.
There is no real way for the EU to enforce Euro adaption. It‘s mandatory. I think Denmark is the only official exception for some reason. But you can‘t force Poland, Austria or Sweden to adopt the Euro even when they vowed to adopt it.
I think after the eurocrisis nobody is in a rush to force anyone to adopt the euro until they think they are ready.
Anyone with half a working brain would agree.
We don't need another Hungary, or a King
We already have kings. A few more likely won’t make a difference
Britain should take measures to prevent foreign actorts influence its local politics first, otherwise this Brexit goes and another one comes.