News
Good morning and welcome to your Unbound Daily Briefing for Tuesday 16th June - topics being covered today include:
- Ipsos polling another nail in rejoin coffin
- Dishonest FT charts on NI growth
- Former EU President says UK would be "blocked" from rejoining EU
Ipsos polling another nail in rejoin coffin
Recent polling from the pollster Ipsos was published over the weekend, with the primary focus having been on some of the more headline-catching aspects of the data that was dropped. But one part that was not given as much prominence until others picked up on it on Monday afternoon, was that the polling shows decisively that a majority of Brits would prefer to have total control over immigration, than they would a better or closer relationship with the EU. A reminder at this juncture that the EU reset currently includes a Youth Mobility scheme, and rejoining the EU would require a return to Freedom of Movement, membership of the Schengen border-free zone, and being part of the EU Migration Pact. So at least as far as the British public are concerned, rejoining the EU is a complete non-starter.
- Read our news item on the Ipsos polling
Dishonest FT charts on NI growth
As part of their write-up of the winners of Brexit, the FT published a section on Northern Ireland - stating that the unique settlement for NI had left it with "seamless" access to both the UK and EU goods markets, and then going on to say that "Northern Ireland’s economy has fared better, relatively speaking, than any other part of the UK since Brexit".
Both of those statements are true, but the dishonesty here lies in the fact that they are unconnected.
The growth in the NI economy has indeed fared slightly better than the rest of the UK, but that growth has been almost solely in Services, not Goods. Something that the unique settlement for Northern Ireland has nothing to do with.
This sort of article proves exactly why Britain Unbound needs to exist - to call out the deception and the disservice to the British public.
- Read the FT article on Brexit winners
Former EU President says UK would be "blocked" from rejoining EU
The former President of the EU Commission during the Brexit years, Jean-Claude Juncker, has given an exclusive interview to the FT regarding his thoughts on Brexit ten years later, and the chances of the UK rejoining the EU. The former President was rather blunt and dismissive of the UKs chances, stating that "A majority of European governments would cold-shoulder this, because the British are very close to the US, whereas the US is not very popular for the time being inside the European Union."
This reality-check for the rejoin movement is very much appreciated, but it will no doubt be ignored.
