I wrote some time ago about how difficult it might be to get the EU to accept the UK as a member again even if we won a referendum with a majority. I think while we are split more or less down the middle, they wouldn't entertain a request for membership. Otherwise we and they would be going through hell every few years, in and out like a fiddler's elbow. No, to rejoin and become a permanent and enthusiastic EU member there has to be a big change in our attitude to Europe.
This is not going to happen quickly I am sorry to say. One of the problems is the British press.
Have a look at this headline in The Daily Star:
This stuff makes Breitbart look responsible.Honestly, no country can stay sane while the greater part of its media ecosystem pumps out toxic bullshit of this kind, day after day. pic.twitter.com/KiIJUnwXJQ— John O’Brennan (@JohnOBrennan2) March 19, 2021
Prof John O'Brennan is the Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration at Maynooth University in Co Kildare, Ireland. I am afraid it's hard to disagree with him about sanity and this country. It is indeed toxic bullshit.
The Daily Star had a print circulation of 136,000 last year, down 16%. The Express, which could have easily run a similar headline, lost 19% and is down to 238,000. The Mail, not much better is at 960,000 (-18%). Their on-line and social media presence is much higher. The Mail gets 11 million hits per day for example.
These are still very popular newspapers and they tend to publish stories they know will attract readers and therefore advertising revenue. We shouldn't fool ourselves that there isn't an appetite out in the country for this kind of EU bashing stuff because there is. But it is self-reinforcing.
The Tory party is made up of people who read and believe this sort of thing. They too often make up the government of the UK and until these things change there cannot be a change in attitude more generally and we can't expect to even think about holding a referendum for joining again.
This is not to say I don't think we will ever rejoin, because not only do I believe this, I think it is inevitable. The only question is how long it will take for people to realise.
The press will claim that they only reflect public attitudes and they give readers what they want and I think this is true but they are influential and constantly reinforcing the message has only hardened attitudes against Europe. Does that serve their readers well? I don't think so.
The EU is not perfect by any means. It is a human construct and there will be mistakes and disagreements and arguments about what is best for Europe and Europeans. I tend to believe the EU make better decisions than we do and that they improve the quality of lives and protect the environment, although they often take longer to get there simply because achieving a consensus is not always very easy.
Over time this will play out and sooner or later, Fleet Street will come to the same conclusion, that we are better off with one hand partly on Europe's tiller rather than none at all.
Until then we need to keep up the pressure on our leave voting friends, on local councillors, on the press and politicians to keep pointing out the folly of Brexit.
