Starmer is playing with fire with his Brexit betrayal

A new academic survey of British attitudes to national sovereignty has revealed a huge gulf between what the British public thinks and what our political class says we think.

UK prime minister Keir Starmer and a chorus of like-minded supporters from other parties, including the Lib Dems’ Ed Davey and pro-EU Conservatives, insist we need a Brexit ‘reset’. They argue that the majority of British people want a closer relationship with the EU, even if that means sacrificing national sovereignty.

But this is not true. Dr Richard Johnson, a senior politics lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, has sought to establish what the public really thinks about who should be calling the shots on decisions that affect them. Most polls tend to ask leading questions, such as ‘Should we be working more closely with our neighbours?’, which produce answers that sound favourable to rejoining or realigning with the EU. Johnson’s poll asked straightforwardly: who should be in charge of key policies?

The poll was conducted through YouGov, a credible pollster, and used a large representative sample of over 4,500 adults. The questions presented 20 different policy areas that had previously been constrained by EU membership. Crucially, the questions did not directly mention ‘Europe’, ‘the EU’ or any other supranational institution.

Participants were asked who, in principle, should be responsible for setting particular policies. The options given were: a) UK governments alone; b) UK governments in voluntary non-binding agreements with other countries; or c) UK governments being bound by international institutions.

The answers may astonish even the most avid of Brexiteers. ‘UK governments alone’ was the most popular answer for all 20 policy areas – and an outright majority for 17 out of 20. AI regulation, data protection and trade rules were the only issues that did not receive outright majorities for full UK sovereignty. Yet even in these areas, ‘UK governments alone’ remained the most popular answer.

The results leave nowhere to hide for our political parties. For 15 of the 20 policies presented in the survey, Labour voters gave majority support to ‘UK governments alone’. These excluded AI regulation, data protection, fishing, immigration and trade rules. If Keir Starmer wants an electoral future, he’ll need to wise up to the actual views of his party’s supporters. Labour voters clearly want his government to be responsible for Britain’s policies – and to be accountable to the British people when it gets things wrong.

The message to the Conservative shadow cabinet is beyond refute. Tory voters gave majority support to the ‘UK governments alone’ option in all 20 policy statements. Similarly, Reform UK voters supported the ‘UK governments alone’ for every policy. No surprises there. Even Liberal Democrat voters, a supposedly Europhile bunch, gave majority support to ‘UK governments alone’ in 16 areas. The Greens will also be shocked to discover that for over half of the policy areas, their voters also gave majority support to ‘UK governments alone’.

When broken down further, the survey responses continue to challenge received wisdom. While those who voted Leave in 2016 backed British sovereignty in all 20 policy subjects, Remain voters gave majority support to ‘UK governments alone’ in 15 out of 20: an astonishing 75 per cent of the policy topics.

By stripping away the tribal classifications of EU, Brexit, and party labels that feed perceptions and prejudices, the British public’s attitude toward decision-making and democratic accountability becomes far clearer. And yet, there remains very little public debate surrounding Starmer’s Brexit reset, in which control is about to be ceded to the EU over a vast range of policies.

Back in May, when many of the details of the reset were revealed, most headlines focussed on Starmer’s decision to hand control over our fishing grounds until 2038. This won’t be the last expensive concession of UK sovereignty. Every year there will be more meetings and new demands presented by Brussels – and Britain will be expected to pay millions, amounting to billions, for the privilege of handing away our power.

Those expecting a referendum or a General Election to seek a mandate for any of this will be sorely disappointed. Our ability to decide laws democratically will be surgically removed, a sliver at a time, until at least 2029. After that, it will take a UK government with unbending political will to recover what Starmer has sacrificed to Brussels.

The new polling tells us in no uncertain terms what the British public is asking for: a reclamation of our democratic rights. We need to speak out against Starmer’s betrayal of British sovereignty, before it is too late.

Brian Monteith is a former member of the Scottish and European parliaments.