After Five Years of Brexit It’s Time to Admit It Was a Terrible Mistake and Build the Case to Rejoin the EU

Five years ago, the UK took the fateful step of leaving the European Union. Brexiteers promised freedom, prosperity, and sovereignty.

Instead, we’ve been left with economic decline, political isolation, and a diminished future. As we mark this painful anniversary, we must confront the harsh reality: Brexit has failed. The question now is not whether we can fix it, but how quickly we can chart a course back to Europe. 

The numbers don’t lie. The Government’s own economic watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, estimates that Brexit will deliver a 15% long-term hit to UK trade.

Bloomberg Economics puts the annual cost of Brexit at a staggering £100 billion in lost output. Meanwhile, the Treasury has confirmed that the UK’s settlement with the EU cost over £30 billion, a figure that doesn’t even begin to account for the ongoing economic damage.

The impact on businesses has been devastating. A study by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics (LSE) found that 16,400 businesses (14% of UK exporters) have been forced to stop trading with the EU entirely, and food and agricultural exports have taken an average annual hit of £2.8 billion since the end of  the transition period, with no signs of recovery.

And for ordinary people, food prices  have skyrocketed; a separate study from LSE shows food inflation would have been eight per cent lower if we had remained in the EU.

These aren’t just abstract figures; they represent real pain for real people. Families separated by red tape. Businesses collapsing under the weight of bureaucracy. Young people robbed of the freedom to live, work, and study across Europe.

The opportunities that once defined our relationship with the EU have been squandered, leaving the UK smaller, poorer, and more inward-looking. This is a self-inflicted wound: one we cannot  afford to let bleed any longer. 

This is about more than trade statistics and economic forecasts. It’s about Britain’s place in the world.

Brexit has left us adrift, our voice diminished at a time when global challenges demand bold leadership and unity. From the existential threat of climate breakdown to humanitarian crises born of international conflicts and rising authoritarianism, the problems we face don’t stop at borders.

Democracy is under threat, and human rights are being eroded. The EU is a powerful bulwark against these forces, standing up for democracy, the rule of law, and individual freedoms. The UK’s absence from key decision-making tables has left us reacting to events, not shaping  them. 

Though regaining full membership of the EU would be a lengthy and considered process, requiring stable public support, there are some simple steps we can take now.  

Rejoining the Customs Union would ease the worst of the trade chaos, protecting businesses and jobs. Restoring free movement and youth mobility would reunite families, empower workers, and give young people back the opportunities they deserve. Rejoining the Erasmus Programme would allow students to once again experience Europe and build lifelong connections. These steps are practical, achievable, and necessary.

The evidence is clear. What’s missing is leadership. For too long, politicians have been afraid to admit that Brexit was a mistake. But we cannot afford to let pride stand in the way of progress. Rejoining the EU is not just an economic imperative—it’s a moral one.  

As a Green Party MP and former Member of the European Parliament, I know that Britain’s future lies with Europe. Increasingly, the public believes this too: a recent YouGov poll found that just 30% of Britons say it was right for the UK to vote to leave the  EU.

While I believe full membership of the EU remains the best option for the UK, this can only be achieved when there is a stable public majority in favour of doing so. And that stable majority can only be built if those of us who believe in a future in Europe are vocal and proud about our vision for that future.

This is about standing up for who we are as a nation: a country that values cooperation over division, hope over fear, and progress over decline. It’s about recognising that Britain is stronger when we work with our neighbours, not against them.

Let’s stop pretending Brexit has worked. It hasn’t. And let’s start building the case— boldly, confidently, and unapologetically—for returning to Europe.

Britain deserves better than the broken promises of the past five years. Let this be the last Brexit anniversary we mark with regret, and the first step toward a brighter, more hopeful future.