News
Good morning, and happy 10th anniversary of Brexit! Topics we are covering in your Unbound Daily Briefing today include:
- 10th Anniversary Celebrations
- Michael Barnier Makes an Abrupt U-turn
- The Burnham EU Dilemma
10th Anniversary Celebrations
On this day 10 years ago, 23rd June 2016, over 17 million people made a decision that the UK was better off being outside of the EU than continuing inside it. Today also marks the intended crescendo of what has been a relentless onslaught of scheduled attacks on that decision, with already debunked reports being repeated ad infinitum. We at Britain Unbound continue to be proud of the decision the British public made that day, and know that the decision was the right one made for all the right reasons.
Outside of our Brexit book festival, we will be bringing more uplifting content on the opportunities ahead of us outside of the EU over the coming days. In the meantime, Julian Jessop has put together a summary of Brexit in 6 charts that we recommend you take a look at and ponder over.
- Read Gully Foyle's reasons he voted to leave
- Read Julian Jessop's 10 years in 6 charts, on his substack
Michael Barnier Makes an Abrupt U-turn
Much was made over the weekend on social media, over the comments made by the former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in an interview with The Guardian published on 18th June, where we posited that the UK could potentially regain all of its opt outs and carve outs it previously had as an EU member, if it was to apply to rejoin in the future. This of course ran completely contrary to every statement made by more senior former EU officials like Jean-Claude Juncker, current officials and MEPs such as Sandro Gozi, and EU law itself. However it didn't last long, as a new interview with Barnier conducted by the BBC and published yesterday sees a complete U-turn on that position.
- Read the 18th June interview with Michel Barnier, as conducted by The Guardian
- Read the Independent interview with MEP Sandro Gozi
- Read the Telegraph article on the interview with Jean-Claude Juncker
- Watch the clip from BBC Politics Live, where Lib Dem spokesperson admits rejoining "not an option"
- Read the BBC interview with Michel Barnier, where he u-turns on EU flexibility
The Burnham EU Dilemma
In what is quickly shaping up to be more of a coronation than a contest, Andy Burnham is now the odd-on favourite to be the next Prime Minister of the UK - potentially as soon as mid-July. However the process of getting that stage, and responding to shots across the bow from other contenders for the throne, has left him in a precarious position. Having previously been outspoken on his wish to see Brexit reversed, he is now the MP for a heavily leave voting constituency, and has pledged to not move away from the manifesto commitment to not reverse Brexit.
With the EU Reset summit postponed, whatever is agreed in the future will be his legacy and not Sir Keir Starmer - so what will his legacy be?
