We need to talk about Brexit | FT Film

Summary

The transcript discusses the ongoing impact of Brexit on various sectors in the UK, highlighting the challenges faced by businesses and the political complexities surrounding the issue. It emphasizes the need for clear alignment with trading partners and the importance of economic growth post-Brexit. The narrative also touches on public sentiment, political strategies, and the potential for future renegotiations, all while underlining the criticality of addressing Brexit's consequences for the UK's economic and political landscape.

Takeaways

• 🌾 Brexit continues to create uncertainty in the agricultural sector, affecting long-term planning and support for farmers.
• 🚀 The UK's tech and life science sectors show promise despite the overall economic uncertainty post-Brexit.
• 📈 There is a general desire among the public and politicians to avoid reopening the 'Brexit can of worms' and focus on economic growth.
• 🤝 The UK is seeking to strengthen trade agreements with countries like Australia and New Zealand, although their impact on specific businesses varies.
• 🛃 Border frictions and regulatory divergences with the EU are causing challenges for UK businesses, particularly in terms of trade and movement of goods.
• 🏭 Brexit has led to a loss of growth for some businesses, like the pharmaceutical automation industry, due to changes in trade dynamics.
• 📊 Public sentiment towards Brexit is mixed, with some experiencing 'Bregret' or regret over the decision to leave the EU.
• 🗳️ The upcoming general election sees Brexit barely featuring on the political agenda, indicating a shift in focus towards other issues like the economy and health service.
• 📈 The UK government is trying to make Brexit work by pursuing trade deals and exploiting the freedoms gained from leaving the EU.
• 🌍 The UK's future relationship with the EU is crucial for business confidence and growth, with calls for pragmatic solutions to reduce trade barriers.

Q & A

What is the main concern of the speaker regarding the uncertainty in farming and businesses post-Brexit?

The speaker is primarily concerned about the lack of clarity on the future, particularly in terms of trade agreements and the impact on economic growth. They emphasize the need for closer alignment with trading partners and addressing the challenges that Brexit has introduced.

What was the speaker's stance on Brexit prior to the referendum?

The speaker voted to leave the EU during the referendum, but admits to having been naive about the level of difficulty that would follow.

What does the speaker believe should be the focus of political discussions?

The speaker believes that the focus should shift from Brexit itself to economic growth, making the most of the opportunities that Brexit presents.

How has Brexit affected the founder of 3P Innovation according to the transcript?

The founder of 3P Innovation reports that Brexit has resulted in the loss of about half of their growth, as they have a difficult time trading with the European Union, which was once their doorstep market.

What is the impact of Brexit on the UK's agricultural commodities trade?

The majority of the UK's agricultural commodities are still exported to Europe. Brexit has introduced additional challenges and frictions in this trade, such as the need for more paperwork and potential delays at the border.

What does the speaker suggest as a solution to the challenges faced by UK businesses post-Brexit?

The speaker suggests that the UK should move forward with an open mind, doing as much trade and cooperation as possible, and learning from European partners to address the challenges post-Brexit.

What was the speaker's role during the original Brexit referendum?

The speaker served as an adviser to David Cameron during the original Brexit referendum.

What is the current state of UK-EU trade relations according to the transcript?

The transcript suggests that while there is a tariff-free, quota-free trade deal with the EU, barriers to trade persist and the regulatory divergence continues, causing difficulties for various sectors including agriculture, creative industries, and manufacturing.

What is the speaker's view on the UK's future relationship with the EU?

The speaker advocates for a pragmatic approach, suggesting that the UK should consider aligning with certain EU regulations to reduce trade frictions and that the UK needs to have a sensible conversation about its future relationship with the EU.

What is the main sentiment towards Brexit expressed by the interviewees in the transcript?

The overall sentiment expressed by the interviewees is one of regret and concern. They acknowledge the difficulties and challenges Brexit has brought, such as increased bureaucracy and impact on trade, and express a desire for more open discussion and practical solutions.

What does the speaker suggest about the UK's future trade policy?

The speaker suggests that the idea of completely diverging from the EU's trade policy is a myth and that it would be counterproductive for the UK to compete against the EU on standards. Instead, they advocate for maintaining high standards and finding ways to align regulations where beneficial.

Outlines

00:00

🌾 Uncertainty and Challenges in Farming Post-Brexit

The first paragraph discusses the ongoing uncertainty in the farming and business sectors due to Brexit. The speaker, who voted to leave the EU, expresses surprise at the complexity of the situation and emphasizes the need for alignment with trading partners. The conversation highlights the political reluctance to discuss Brexit and suggests focusing on economic growth instead. The speaker, a fourth-generation farmer, reflects on the historical context of their family's farming business and the changes brought about by Brexit, including the loss of subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy. The paragraph concludes with a call for mature dialogue about the challenges ahead and the importance of moving forward with an open mind in trade and cooperation.

05:01

📦 Trade Adjustments and Business Impacts

This paragraph delves into the specific impacts of Brexit on businesses, particularly those dealing with the European Union. It describes the challenges of adapting to new regulations, such as CE marking for products and the changes in VAT harmonization. The speaker, a founder of a custom automation company, shares the negative effects on their business growth due to Brexit and the need to establish a European office for compliance. The paragraph also touches on the broader implications for businesses of all sizes, including the additional costs and administrative burdens associated with exporting to the EU. The speaker advocates for clarity and consistency in rules, and the importance of the UK's global trade relationships.

10:01

🤝 Suggestions for UK-EU Alignment and Cooperation

The third paragraph focuses on potential strategies for the UK to align with the EU in key economic sectors to facilitate trade and reduce friction at the borders. It discusses the possibility of unilateral alignment by the UK and the benefits it could bring to businesses. The paragraph also explores the political challenges of such alignment, particularly for the Conservative and Labour parties, and the need for pragmatic choices. Specific agreements, such as the New Zealand Veterinary Agreement and the Swiss model, are suggested as ways to streamline trade in food and drink products. The paragraph concludes with a call for the next prime minister to consider these options and the importance of not undermining the UK's high environmental and animal welfare standards.

15:02

🌍 Post-Brexit Public Opinion and Political Priorities

The fourth paragraph examines public sentiment towards Brexit and the government's handling of the situation. It highlights that despite the economic downturn and lack of control over immigration, Leave voters still value the UK's ability to govern itself. The paragraph discusses the upcoming review of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the potential for renegotiation. It also touches on the political strategies of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, their reluctance to reopen Brexit negotiations, and the focus on other pressing issues like the economy and health service. The paragraph concludes with a discussion on the public's shifting views on Brexit, the concept of 'Bregret', and the desire for political stability and progress beyond Brexit.

20:03

💡 The Need for Open Discussion on Brexit and Business Growth

The fifth paragraph emphasizes the importance of open dialogue about Brexit and its implications for business growth and the UK's relationship with the EU. It critiques the government's and future governments' lack of clear plans for making Brexit work and the need for confidence in continued trade with Europe. The paragraph discusses the unfulfilled promises of Brexit, including reduced migration and increased public spending, and the current limitations of the UK's trade deals. It calls for a focus on sectors like tech and life sciences, and the potential for the UK to set its own rules post-Brexit. The speaker shares their personal regret over the Brexit outcome and the increased red tape faced by businesses.

25:06

🌿 Implications of Trade Deals on UK Farming and Politics

The final paragraph discusses the potential threats to UK farming from trade deals with countries like New Zealand and Australia, which could gain access to the UK market. It highlights Keir Starmer's stance on not rejoining the single market or diverging from EU standards, and the challenges of negotiating with Brussels. The paragraph also touches on the lack of detailed political promises and the public's lack of interest in certain standards alignment. It concludes with a call for more discussion on a wide range of issues, including education, health, social care, and housing, which are being avoided in the lead-up to the general election.

Keywords

💡Brexit

Brexit refers to the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union. It is the central theme of the video, discussing its implications for trade, sovereignty, and the UK's economic future. The video highlights the divisive nature of Brexit and the challenges it poses to businesses and politicians in adapting to new trade relationships and regulations.

💡uncertainty

Uncertainty in this context refers to the unpredictability and lack of clarity regarding the future, especially in relation to business operations, trade agreements, and policy changes post-Brexit. The video emphasizes the need for businesses and the UK government to navigate through this uncertainty and plan for the long term despite not knowing exactly what lies ahead.

💡trade partners

Trade partners are countries or regions with which the UK has established economic relationships for the exchange of goods and services. The video discusses the importance of aligning with trading partners, particularly the European Union, to ensure economic growth and minimize disruptions caused by Brexit.

💡sovereignty

Sovereignty is the full right and power of a governing body to govern itself without any interference from outside sources or bodies. In the context of the video, it relates to the UK's control over its laws, regulations, and policies following Brexit, and the trade-offs between sovereignty and the benefits of EU membership.

💡economic growth

Economic growth refers to the increase in the production of goods and services in an economy over a certain period. The video emphasizes the need for the UK to focus on economic growth post-Brexit, rather than getting caught up in the political debates surrounding Brexit itself.

💡regulatory framework

A regulatory framework consists of the rules, regulations, and policies set by a government or international body that governs how certain activities or industries operate. In the context of the video, it refers to the UK's need to establish its own regulatory systems and standards after leaving the EU, which can impact trade and business operations.

💡friction

Friction, in the context of trade and business, refers to the obstacles, delays, or complications that arise from regulatory, administrative, or logistical issues. The video highlights how Brexit has introduced new frictions in trade between the UK and the EU, affecting supply chains and increasing costs for businesses.

💡supply chain

A supply chain is the network of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in the production and distribution of a product or service. The video discusses how Brexit has affected the efficiency and reliability of supply chains, particularly for businesses that rely on just-in-time practices and trade with the EU.

💡migration

Migration refers to the movement of people from one place or country to another, often for economic or political reasons. In the video, migration is discussed as one of the key issues associated with Brexit, with the public expecting the UK government to have more control over immigration post-Brexit.

💡carbon tax

A carbon tax is a fee imposed on the burning of carbon-based fuels, such as coal, oil, and gas, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging more sustainable energy practices. The video discusses the EU's implementation of a carbon tax and the implications for businesses trading with the EU, including the need to account for the embedded carbon in their products.

💡public sentiment

Public sentiment refers to the general opinion, feeling, or attitude of the population towards a particular issue or event. In the context of the video, it relates to the public's perception of Brexit, its outcomes, and the government's handling of the post-Brexit situation.

Highlights

Uncertainty in farming and businesses post-Brexit remains a significant issue.

Brexit's divisive nature has led to a reluctance in political discussions around the topic.

The desire for closer alignment with trading partners raises questions about sovereignty.

Economic growth is prioritized over Brexit discussions by some politicians.

The impact of Brexit on different sectors of the economy varies, with agriculture facing particular challenges.

The Brexit deal has not fundamentally changed the barriers to trade since its implementation.

Businesses are seeking clarity and consistency in the post-Brexit regulatory environment.

The loss of the European Union market has negatively impacted some businesses' growth prospects.

Changes in VAT harmonization and the need for EU-based VAT representation have increased administrative burdens.

Brexit is a process, not a single event, with ongoing divergence in regulatory frameworks.

Adaptation to new trading relationships has been challenging for businesses, particularly in terms of supply chain management.

The UK's new border checks on goods from the EU could introduce further friction and delays.

The concept of 'taking back control' has been a central theme in Brexit discussions, but its practical implications are complex.

The idea of completely diverging from EU trade policy is considered a myth by some.

The importance of maintaining high environmental and animal welfare standards is emphasized for trade purposes.

The potential for the UK to align its carbon markets and border taxes with the EU is discussed.

The public's attachment to the idea of the UK governing its own affairs remains strong despite economic and migration concerns.

The narrative of 'Bregret' or Brexit remorse is on the rise among the public.

The slogan 'Get Brexit Done' reflects the public's desire to stop discussing Brexit and move on.

Transcripts

There is still an element of uncertainty across a lot of farm

businesses.

Actually knowing where we're going next on this journey

is really important.

Brexit is still a very divisive issue.

It did split us.

I voted to leave.

I didn't think it would be, naively, this difficult.

What I'd really like to hear is how

we can get closer alignment with our closest trading partners.

And that begs a load of questions

about sovereignty, which is, of course, what Brexit is all

about.

The political incentive to talk about Brexit is zero.

What we need to be talking about is economic growth rather than

Brexit.

Brexit and delivering the opportunities of Brexit

is a key part of getting that economic growth.

Mr Speaker, I love this slagging off behind me.

We're going into a general election

year with it barely featuring on the political agenda.

Our politicians and our business people need to have a grown up,

sensible conversation about the challenges

and what we're going to do about them.

An election year is a good time to do that.

I am the fourth generation to farm here.

My family originally came to Surrey from Devon in 1897.

Back in 2016 I accepted that Brussels was not perfect,

the Commission was not perfect, the decision-making process

was not perfect.

When we were faced with Brexit we

were faced with a potential cut in the amount of support

we were getting through the Common Agricultural

Policy via the UK government.

Some would say it focuses the mind more on productivity

and actually running a business.

Others would say it leaves us potentially more at risk.

That safety blanket of Common Agricultural Policy subsidy

has been pulled from beneath us.

All we know at the moment is that the budget

is set for the lifetime of this parliament.

And as we stand here today we have no idea how long

that parliament's going to be.

I think we need to talk about Brexit in terms

of what the next phase is, in terms of the trade agreement.

You know, we export our agricultural commodities out

of the UK, the vast majority of it

still goes into colleagues' businesses in Europe.

We just need to move forward with an open mind,

doing as much trade as we can, co-operating as much as we can,

and learning from each other.

It's as simple as that.

Don't throw away your job.

Don't throw away your children's future.

My name is Rachel Wolf.

I was an adviser to David Cameron

during the original Brexit referendum.

This country is aching to move on.

I also was one of the authors of the manifesto

of the Conservative party in the 2019 election.

From the public's point of view there

is no desire to talk about Brexit

and that is why no politician wishes to talk about Brexit.

The slogan of Vote Leave, of course, was take back control.

We've now got a trade deal with the EU which

is tariff free, quota free.

We've taken back control over our money, control over our laws

and lawmaking powers.

We've delivered what we said we would in 2016.

The barriers that were erected by the trade deal

that Lord Frost and Boris Johnson signed with the EU

haven't fundamentally changed in the three years

since the trade deal came into force

and those barriers still persist to this day.

Don't you, perhaps...

I think we've miss an opportunity post

Brexit to actually formally look at Britain's place in the world.

You know, what are our drivers going to be for economic growth?

How can we focus on certain areas

that we're particularly good at?

And how can we make sure we have the right regulatory, tax,

fiscal, overall policy framework for those areas

to make the most of those opportunities?

The Brexit deal that we eventually ended up signing

has impacted different bits of the economy in different ways.

It's very difficult for agriculture.

It's very difficult for the creative industries.

It's very difficult for some parts of manufacturing.

My name is Dave Seaward.

I'm a founder of 3P Innovation.

We make custom automation mainly for

the pharmaceutical industries.

We've lost about half our growth as a direct result of Brexit.

We had a huge market on our doorstep, which was the European

Union, and we could trade as if it was our local market.

60 per cent of businesses tell us

it's harder now than it was the year before.

Brexit hasn't in any way really helped their business.

50 per cent say that the rules have changed,

but they also have kept changing.

We'd like to see some real clarity, consistency.

Well, Everything Dinosaur was formed in 2005.

We could see a niche online selling dinosaurs

and prehistoric animal models.

When we left the European Union we

didn't have responsibility any more for CE marking.

There'd be UKCA marked products which you could sell in the UK.

And if you wanted to sell goods in the European Union

you'd have to have CE marking for those items.

And then 1st of August last year it got pulled.

So that was a lot of effort, a lot of money,

and a lot of time just wasted.

So I'm based in the UK being forced

to set up an office in Europe to get me, effectively,

a postcode so that I can put a CE mark on a machine

so that I can sell it, not just to Europe, but to the rest

of the world, because those multinational clients demand

CE mark because they understand it means our machinery is safe.

One of the ways in which the UK and Europe have diverged

is the harmonisation of VAT, but because we're outside of Europe,

in a third country, we have to do our VAT

through another company in Ireland,

because only a EU company can do EU VAT.

So it's extra work.

If you're exporting to the EU you

have to pay to have a VAT representative in every country

you export into.

For certain sized businesses that should not necessarily

be the case.

And actually, we know that works because Norway currently

have that agreement with the EU, so we

would like to see that happen.

Brexit isn't a single event.

It's a process.

Divergence in regulatory frameworks continue.

Fresh export opportunities...

Kemi Badenoch says it's false to say Brexit has had

a major impact on UK-EU trade.

Rishi Sunak claims that freedoms that it

enjoys as a result of Brexit make the UK more competitive.

British business will be driven crazy

when they hear Rishi Sunak, the prime minister,

say one of the reasons Britain's economy hasn't shrunk

in the way many people predicted in '23 was because of Brexit.

British business has adapted to the new trading relationship,

as one would expect, but it's still far from optimal.

It's made us farm harder, actually.

We're producing more off this farm now

than we've ever produced.

We've sort of got on and adapted.

A lot of the machinery we use on farms in the UK

is made in Europe and the parts come from Europe.

And whereas before we could pick up the phone or send an email

and 24 hours later it would land,

through no fault of those parts suppliers,

because of the different customs regime and the friction

of the border, suddenly you're having to think, you know,

days in advance or you're stood waiting for the spare part,

and the machine's broken, for days, a week for it to land.

Now we have to deal with German rules,

Italian rules, Spanish rules.

Some of these nations actually have district rules

and you're trying to work out, if I want to send a field

service person to Munich is that the same

as sending somebody to Madrid?

If I send somebody to Madrid, is that actually

the same as Barcelona?

You have to get different bits of paperwork in place

and it's all friction.

What I'd really like to hear is how

we can get closer alignment with our closest trading partners.

Until now, the frictions on the border have only been one way.

They've been from Great Britain into the EU.

This is the year, three years after we actually

left the EU properly, that we're going

to introduce our own border checks on goods

coming from the EU into the UK.

And if you've got particularly - very important nowadays -

just-in-time supply chain practises,

you want to be absolutely confident that bureaucracy is

not going to get in the way.

If you're a small business importing

there's a real concern that your business partners in the EU

will just basically think it's not worth the effort

and go and sell their goods elsewhere.

If you're a large business that's less of a concern,

but what you are concerned about is, when your lorries are coming

over the border, if you're stuck behind someone

who hasn't got the right paperwork,

if the new import regulations aren't working smoothly

and there are delays at the border,

it will add time, costs, and that will certainly see

upward pressure on inflation.

The whole point about Brexit was taking back control.

Conservative Brexiteers would differ to where, perhaps,

Labour Brexiteers were.

The whole point is that once you've left the EU then

it is up to British people to elect a government that reflects

their own priorities and that government can then

implement the Brexit vision, if you like, that it wants.

Rejoining the single market and the customs union are,

I would say, off the agenda at the moment,

but that doesn't mean we can't improve things.

If you take a divorce analogy, the two partners

have stopped throwing plates at each other

and are now talking in a slightly cold way

about sorting out some of the stuff that has to be resolved.

And Rishi Sunak, to his credit, has addressed.

The Northern Ireland trading dispute was sorted out.

The Horizon science Ppogramme, which Britain has now

been readmitted to, as well, the government

junked the proposal to have a bonfire of EU regulation

with all the rules automatically expiring, something

which was driving business crazy because of the uncertainty that

was going to arise.

There are pragmatic, sort of more flexible things

we can put in place.

The first thing you could do is start

to align in various key sectors of the economy that

are important for our goods manufacturers.

Now the important thing to remember

is that alignment doesn't get you access.

Even if you have the same rules, you still

have to show up at the border with a piece of paper

that shows you followed the rules.

And that is cost and friction.

That makes it harder to put the UK in your supply chain

if you're an EU business.

But nonetheless, you could do that alignment unilaterally,

just on the UK side, and that would make it easier

for business.

I think for the Conservatives it's very difficult

to say that the UK would just remain

aligned with evolving rules that are drawn up by the EU.

I think for Labour there is a sense,

talking at least to frontbenchers privately,

that they want to strip out the ideology from some of these

issues.

They want to make pragmatic choices about when to diverge

and when to remain aligned.

And I think they think they've got a little bit more manoeuvre

room to do that.

What we'd say to the next prime minister

is: probably number one ask would

be the Veterinary Agreement.

It's food and drink.

You reduce the number of checks you require

on foodstuffs and animal products coming

across the border and some of the areas

which are most affected by the delays.

The New Zealand Veterinary Agreement

just reduces the frequency of checks at the border.

The Swiss agreement reduces the need for checks at all.

That's the one, the really deep one,

that would make it much easier for our supermarkets

and our traders to trade with Europe.

The challenge is it will require high levels of rule

taking and having, essentially, no say at the table

that makes the rules.

We would be pretty dumb as a nation

to suddenly change our rule book and throw away, for example,

our lamb export trade.

So you've just got to accept, I think,

as an inevitability that you perhaps

should look at something like the Swiss model

and we are going to have to align our regulations.

And the idea that, oh, yes, we'll become rule takers: well,

it's about give and take, isn't it?

Giving away sovereignty to reduce border frictions

is an extraordinary notion.

It's not an approach adopted by major countries

in the world, let alone a G7 country,

so why are we thinking in this extraordinarily sort of craven

way?

I just think it represents a failure

of analysis of the opportunities for the UK.

The idea of a complete divergence

of our trade policy from our European colleagues

is an utter myth.

They are our biggest single export customer

of what we produce here.

We'd be utterly crazy to rip up the rule book.

Why would we want to be in a race

to the bottom to compete against them on standards?

We utterly need to defend the standards

that we have here - the environmental standards,

the animal welfare standards.

We have some of the highest in the world.

And the people that want to buy that product off us recognise

that, which is why they buy the product off us.

What you're seeing now is the EU creating its carbon tax.

That means when you import something into the EU

you have to show how much embedded carbon is

in that item in order that you don't undercut

the green drive in Europe.

You had a toy manufacturer that had steel parts in their toys.

They now have to fill in paperwork

to say how much emissions are in that steel.

I mean, they don't even understand what that means,

never mind how to do it.

The UK could decide that it's going

to synchronise its carbon markets

and its carbon border taxes legally with the EU.

I don't think that the public are going to be up in arms

because we have joined the EU's carbon trading framework.

It could do a youth mobility deal.

So 18 to 30-year-olds can come and work, say, for two or three

years in the UK and vice versa.

Students want to be able to do exchanges.

Obviously, the UK is no longer part of the Erasmus scheme.

It has its own alternative.

There have been claims that doesn't work as well.

They could do a professional mobility arrangement.

Make it easier for our professionals to come and work

in each other's company.

So we would like to see mutual recognition of qualifications

and more flexibility in the time that people can

stay in different countries.

Within the bounds of remaining outside the single market

and remaining outside the customs union,

there's only so far that any changes can go.

Frankly, it amounts to fiddling with the fringes

of the agreement that we currently have.

YouGov, which keeps a tracker of the most important issues

to the public, looks at it by party, as well,

and it shows that for Conservative voters

immigration was the number one issue.

Immigration is something people associate with Brexit.

Good morning.

That is a problem for Rishi Sunak

when there's still 29,000 people who came via small boat

last year.

And of course, legal net migration at record numbers.

When political scientists look at why

people voted to leave the EU, Leave voters

thought mostly it would be a positive effect on the economy,

it would help the UK control immigration,

and they also thought it would improve the UK's ability

to govern our own affairs - to give back control to the UK.

Even though Leave voters acknowledge

that the impact on the economy has not been positive,

that in fact immigration has not at all been brought

under control, they still are attached to the idea of Britain

governing its own affairs.

When it comes to the issue of migration, of course

we took back control.

And since we left the EU the government

has had control over that policy area.

So really, they need to be held to account

for that, for their performance in that area.

There's a review process built into the Trade and Cooperation

Agreement signed by Boris Johnson that will take effect

at the end of 2025.

Keir Starmer has said he would like

to use the review to actually start

a bit of a renegotiation of terms.

It's really questionable how much substance there would be.

It's a review, it's not a renegotiation,

but it would signal a direction of travel

if he talked up the chances of closer alignment.

There are many in Brussels who say, look,

we're viewing this as a kind of a brief technical exercise

to iron out blips, not a fundamental renegotiation

of a matter, you know, we broadly consider settled.

One of the things that most irritated the European Union,

it's fair to say, was this idea that Britain

was trying to cherry pick and to trying

to have all of the upsides of membership of the EU

without what the electorate saw as the downsides.

For example, free movement of people.

The only way that someone like Keir Starmer

could talk about Brexit more honestly

is if he was also willing to say he

was going to do something really very substantial about it.

Not very much is on offer in terms of minor tweaks

or completely bespoke renegotiating the deal.

Doing something serious about it would be massively re-entering

the EU in some form and he's not willing to do

that because he doesn't want to divide his electorate.

Brexit, per se, is way off the list of voters' top priorities.

The economy, miles ahead, is the most important issue,

followed by the health service - the state of the health service

- followed by migration.

And you could say that Brexit plays into all of those things,

but the public aren't necessarily

making a link, for example, between Britain's

sluggish economic performance and Brexit

because they're not being invited to by the politicians.

It's not part of the daily political discourse

and so the issue has dropped considerably

off the political agenda.

As we start this election year, Labour is an average of 18

points ahead of the Conservatives.

It's looking like the likeliest scenario

right now that Keir Starmer will be headed into Downing Street.

What an incoming Labour government would do would be

to make Brexit work.

'Make Brexit Work' is a way of trying

to argue to the voters we won't reopen this can of worms which

divided the country.

Keir Starmer and Labour have to tread a very careful line.

For a start they always call it the Tory Brexit.

They try and pin some of the ways

that it's not working well on the Conservatives.

Look, all the main political parties,

with the exception of the Scottish National party,

don't want to talk about Brexit.

All of them, for a start, know that the country

has been through a psychodrama that they don't want to revisit.

It splits both parties.

It's not a simple party issue.

If you started raising the problems,

some would obviously come along and ask you, well,

so what are you going to do about it?

Labour's broad strategy, which is not to say anything about

anything, is working just fine for them.

Why mess with it?

He doesn't need to take risks.

The polls say he's going to win anyway.

More and more people have what we call 'Bregret.'

There's some bias remorse here going on.

And you see that the graph showing

those who think it was a good idea

and those thought that it was a bad idea has widened.

People don't think, on the whole, Brexit is going well.

And that's true of Remain voters, who've

never thought it was going well, but it's also

true of Leave voters.

Only one in five think that Brexit is going well,

but they don't want to reopen this.

Let's get Brexit done, my friends,

and get on with our project.

The reason that 'Get Brexit Done' was the slogan in 2019,

not 'Make Brexit Work,' was people mostly just wanted

to stop talking about it.

We asked both Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak

if they wanted to appear in this video and both declined.

The worst thing that could happen to this country

is for those in power not to have

an open discussion about the new way of working with Europe.

If we're to grow our business and make money and therefore pay

more tax to help everybody else, we

need people to understand that the European Union is still

a very important business partner for us.

It's clearly hurting business and business drives

our economy forward.

Everybody wants growth, but I'm not

sure the government, or the future government of whatever

hue, is saying anything that says

they want to make Brexit work.

It needs to be talked about to give confidence

to the rest of the world and Europe

that we can carry on trading.

For business, Brexit is the elephant in the room.

Even the most committed Brexiter would

find it quite difficult to say that it has worked as promised.

We were going to be global Britain.

We would find huge opportunities in the rest of the world,

liberalise our economy in all sorts of wonderful ways

which will unleash dynamism and entrepreneurship and innovation.

Singapore on Thames, a swashbuckling nation

really divorced from our European Union partners.

The Singapore example is relevant.

We can see those upsides if we got behind it and moved quickly.

Some of the people who campaigned for Brexit

wanted to move to a more free trade, more deregulated, lower

tax economy, and they haven't got any of the things

that they wanted.

The pitch to the voters was we will reduce migration,

we will have more money for public services,

and you will have more control.

The public don't want Singapore on Thames.

Rishi Sunak would argue that there are benefits that Britain

can exploit and will exploit from being

outside of the European Union.

There's a good story the British government has

to tell on the development of the tech sector

and the life science sector in the UK.

And if Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, was here

or Rishi Sunak was here they would tell you.

You know, we should end this narrative of declinism.

And there are some advantages from Brexit

- the ability to set your own rules.

Rishi Sunak would cite freeports, as well.

We become member of the success of an organisation

for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

We have a deal with Australia and New Zealand.

And unfortunately, on the trade deals, the really big ones,

US and China are out of reach.

It seems like the government's making good progress

on the India trade deal.

When it comes to the US, the government's

made some progress in terms of having individual trade

deals with individual US states and these

shouldn't be sniffed at.

There's talk of a sort of trade deal with California.

If you're an investor and you're looking at the UK on a seven

to 20-year horizon, what you see is regulatory uncertainty.

The function, I think, of the British state

trying to find its feet, having lost the regulatory guardrails

that came with being a member of the European Union

where, like it or not, a lot of regulation in a lot of areas

of commercial life came down the pipe from Brussels

and we enacted it into UK law.

Those guardrails have gone.

We've taken back control, but that taking back control

creates uncertainty and business doesn't like uncertainty.

Farming is a long-term business.

It's not something you do month-to-month.

It's something you plan years in advance.

In the UK now, post CAP and EU, we have our own system.

But remember, agriculture in the UK is a devolved matter.

There is still an element of uncertainty

across a lot of farm businesses when it comes to support.

In those devolved nations it's a hugely uncertain time

for those producers to actually work out

what they're going to be farming,

what they're even going to be doing.

We need our politicians to come and meet business,

to come and talk to business about how

we can fix the challenges that Brexit has handed to us.

You're, obviously, particularly good on services,

particularly good on life sciences.

We've got a great tech sector within the UK.

Obviously, we've got a great financial services

sector within the UK.

I think it's worth looking at all of those areas, one by one,

and working out what more can be done in those areas

to make sure that they are the most

attractive destination possible for those sectors economically.

If you look at volumes, you'll see

in lots of areas volumes haven't recovered.

And you'd expect them, if we hadn't left the EU,

to carry on growing.

So if you look at UK exports to Germany

and German imports from the UK, and then you compare them

with Germany's trade relationships

with the rest of Europe, you'll see

the UK sliding down Germany's list of trade partners.

What do we want?

Brexit!

When do we want it?

Now!

People want politics to calm down.

They don't want the division and toxicity

which split political parties.

It split the country.

It split families apart.

I voted to leave.

I probably do regret it, the way it's turned out.

I didn't think it would be, naively, this difficult,

this much more red tape when there was supposed to be less.

If there was another referendum tomorrow

I would seriously consider whether I would vote

the same as I did last time.

Well, I voted to remain.

I do get why lots of other people voted the other way.

And it's great having trade deals with Australia.

That's really, really good for lots of businesses, I'm sure,

but for us, often the dinosaur model inside the box

is worth less than the postage costs to get it to Australia.

It's just geographically too far away for us really

to benefit from that.

The Johnson government was desperate to get a trade

deal or two trade deals over the line

and so the Australia and New Zealand deals were literally

pushed over, even though our trade with Australia,

as much as we love our Aussie cousins, is next to nothing.

We are totally exposed there.

I think the biggest of all the potential threats

to UK farming at the moment is the way that those New

Zealand and Australian trade deals sit

and the potential access they have to our market.

Keir Starmer has made it clear he doesn't want to go back

into the single market.

He's also said that he doesn't want Britain to diverge

from the European Union.

He doesn't want Britain to undercut the EU on labour

standards, environmental standards, food standards,

so there is a big call for him to make.

The public might be slightly irritated

if he goes back to Brussels and negotiates

something he hadn't talked about in detail in an election

campaign.

But frankly, British politics is littered

with people doing things that they never actually promised

to do.

Don't forget when Blair and Brown came in they also didn't

give many detailed promises.

And some of the biggest things they ended up

doing, like the independence of the Bank of England,

they didn't talk about at all.

What I would like both the government and the opposition

parties to talk more about ahead of the general election

is their plan for growth.

Having brought powers back to the UK,

it's now up to the UK government, or the government

after the general election, to determine

where else they may like us, a sovereign country,

to deal with other countries.

If we're talking about carbon trading, the degree to which

food standards are aligned, I think the public

neither know nor care at all.

So I think it's going to be very easy to align

to certain standards in the EU.

I don't think we should be naive that we can do lots of things

by stealth that totally remove the fundamental trade-offs

and questions about Brexit.

Brexit is just one of many things

they don't want to talk about.

What are they going to do about education?

What are they going to do about the health service?

How are they going to fund social care?

Are they going to be able to build lots more houses?

Where?

Are we going to have to raise taxes?

And where?

They don't want to talk about any of this.

We don't want to discuss the biggest

issues facing the country in the year of an election.

Nobody wants to discuss them.

That's pretty disturbing if you want to believe in democracy.