![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/brexit-is-irreversible-but-we-must-forge-stronger-economic-ties-with-the-eu/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/TELEMMGLPICT000314076532_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqWZZ9520Qrn8RyVs0byqFf_4Xpit_DMGvdp2n7FDd82k.jpeg&description=Taking up his new position as UK Prime Minister last week, Rishi Sunak said he was committed to delivering on the 2019 manifesto and "building an economy that embraces the opportunities of Brexit". A noble ambition, no doubt, if also a somewhat unremarkable one; this is after all only what he was elected to do. Yet he needs to get a move on - and indeed articulate precisely what those opportunities are - for six years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, all we've got to show for it so far is political, economic and financial chaos. From an economic perspective, there has been zero payback, and particularly in the area of international trade and reputation, considerable harm. Some of the more realistic architects of Brexit have admittedly partially acknowledged these downsides. Sunak has conceded that leaving the EU has been disruptive for trade, while Lord Frost, who negotiated the Withdrawal Agreement, insists that he always said there would be a cost. Nigel Farage likewise never sought to diminish the likelihood of economic impairment, but believed it would be a price worth paying for sovereignty, a view shared by many Brexiteers. Also true is that it is virtually impossible to disentangle the negative economic effects of Brexit from the far more devastating, if time limited, consequences of lockdown and the current energy crisis. These latter implosions are global in nature, providing convenient cover for the politicians to hide behind. In doing so, they delude themselves over the scale of the challenge faced. There is a conspiracy of silence on these matters, for beyond flag waving patriotism, it is hard to point to really any form of economic gain that is both politically and fiscally deliverable. Liz Truss and her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng tried, and they lasted little more than a month. Sometimes slowly but often in great leaps and bounds, many of those supposed Brexit opportunities are being abandoned or quietly shelved, the latest exampl){kind=link}
It’s been six years, and all we’ve got to show for it is political, economic and financial chaos
Taking up his new position as UK Prime Minister last week, Rishi Sunak said he was committed to delivering on the 2019 manifesto and “building an economy that embraces the opportunities of Brexit”.
A noble ambition, no doubt, if also a somewhat unremarkable one; this is after all only what he was elected to do.
Yet he needs to get a move on – and indeed articulate precisely what those opportunities are – for six years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, all we’ve got to show for it so far is political, economic and financial chaos.
From an economic perspective, there has been zero payback, and particularly in the area of international trade and reputation, considerable harm.