4th November 2022

When I posted a correction yesterday, I got this comment in the moderation box:

Gosh.

Mistakes come in different forms: mistakes of attribution (such as the one corrected) are mistakes of fact, but there can also be mistakes of judgement and reasoning, and even mistakes of principle (either in their assertion or in their application).

And the mistake alleged here was one of those broader forms of mistake.

Should I recant?

Should I admit that I am wrong as alleged?

Well.

No.

The position remains (excuse the pun) that I have no ultimate objection to Brexit.

By which I mean I have no ultimate objection to the United Kingdom not being a member state of the European Union.

I do object – fundamentally – to the United Kingdom being outside of the Single Market.

But it is quite possible to be a member of the Single Market and not be a member of the European Union.

Indeed, a number of European countries are members of the Single Market but not members of the European Union.

I also object – and have done so consistently, and in detail – to the manner and speed of the departure.

(Departure should have been done slowly, gradually and methodically over a decade at least.)

So consistent and detailed have I been in this objection many regard me as pretty much a Remainer.

Some may say – perhaps fairly – that my view is of a Brexit in name only, where the substance of law and policy would not change, but with the United Kingdom formally outside the institutions of the European Union.

My preference would be for a close Association Agreement, with settled mechanisms for dialogue and consultation between the European Union and the United Kingdom on Single Market issues.

But since Maastricht I have not seen the case for the European Union to cover the non Single Market (once called) “pillars” of justice and home affairs, or of foreign and security policy.

Of course: cooperation on such topics is crucial – but there is no necessary reason why such cooperation should be through the European Union.

I also do not think a single currency is essential for a Single Market.

And the United Kingdom’s half-hearted opt-in-and-opt-out approach to the European Union on the other “pillars” and the single currency was a brake on what other member states wanted to do, and so I do think the European Union is better off without us if that is what they want to do.

So, I will not be issuing a correction post on my judgement call.

I realise that the view set out above is not widely shared – and perhaps nobody else has exactly the same view.

But it is my sincerely held view, and I cannot and will not pretend otherwise.

So this is my non-apology, and I hope you can accept it!

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