Speaking as a Brit, good. If the EU does us any favours here it draws out our eventual rejoin. EU needs to hold firm so that when the question finally comes back to the British public there is no hiding, no soft options, just rejoining fully for the sake of the prosperity of the nation (and I would argue the EU on the whole – we’re better off together and united fully).
[deleted] on
[deleted]
Substantial_Novel590 on
I think EU was always going to be strict about this. If they give UK special benefits after Brexit, other countries in Europe could start asking for the same thing too. The EU probably wants to show that leaving also has consequences.
Lilybaum on
As it should be. Saying this as an English, but it is the definition of having your cake and eating it too
Worried-Advisor-7054 on
Like, who in the UK is left that want to have eat/have the cake? Either you’re still a leaver, or you understand what Britain threw away. Surely there’s no one left that thinks that the country can get all those exemptions back?
goldstarflag on
Potential Starmer successor Wes Streeting says Brexit was a catastrophic mistake and must be reversed immediately. He says the future of Britain lies within the EU.
deevo82 on
“Leave the door open, lads.”
– Scotland (and NI)
RedFox3001 on
The economic gain would be minimal. No special deals, no incentives. So there’s no real reason for the UK to re-join.
Being out hasn’t been the cluster-fudge everyone makes out it is. So let’s just stay out
HopefulGuy123 on
It just means the UK won’t join – which I am comfortable with. What I am not comfortable with is the UK wasting money defending EU countries. It is time that “brexit means brexit”. The EU cannot keep the UK at arms length and get anything from the UK in return.
MasterD_22 on
Cherrypicking again. It has to be rejected.
shadowsinthestars on
Good.
XionicativeCharan on
Agreed, if you want special treatment, you’ve got to rejoin.
But that shouldn’t bring back the “extra special” treatment the UK got last time. If you want to join, you should have to adopt the Euro and join Schengen and all of it, full membership.
istareatscreens on
I think leaving was a big mistake and the way the vote was done was less than perfect. However I don’t see the UK going back in for a very long, maybe never. France will block it, so it is a total waste of time even considering it.
fuzzbook on
Why would we rejoin? It makes no sense. We are doing fine without the EU and we’ve been through the whole ordeal of getting out.
It’s not like the EU is doing better than the UK is.
KelbornXx on
Growth since 2020:
* UK = 6%
* Germany = 0.8%
* France = 7.3%
2026 Q1 growth:
* UK = 0.6%
* Germany = 0.3%
* France 0.0%
2026 expected growth:
* UK = 0.7% – 1.0%
* Germany = 0.8% – 1.1%
* France = 0.8%
Despite Brexit, the UK grew more than Germany but not as much as France. So far in 2026, the UK has outpaced Germany and France. The rest of the year, the IMF predict that the 3 economies will grow by roughly the same. The IMF has downgraded the UK’s growth from 1.0% to 0.7% but they have been very wrong about the UK’s economic forecasts in recent years so it wouldn’t surprise me if the UK continues to outpace the other 2.
gym_fun on
That would mean rejoining is even more unlikely. Given the voting momentum for reform, I doubt it will happen regardless of special treatment in the nearest future.
17 Comments
Speaking as a Brit, good. If the EU does us any favours here it draws out our eventual rejoin. EU needs to hold firm so that when the question finally comes back to the British public there is no hiding, no soft options, just rejoining fully for the sake of the prosperity of the nation (and I would argue the EU on the whole – we’re better off together and united fully).
[deleted]
I think EU was always going to be strict about this. If they give UK special benefits after Brexit, other countries in Europe could start asking for the same thing too. The EU probably wants to show that leaving also has consequences.
As it should be. Saying this as an English, but it is the definition of having your cake and eating it too
Like, who in the UK is left that want to have eat/have the cake? Either you’re still a leaver, or you understand what Britain threw away. Surely there’s no one left that thinks that the country can get all those exemptions back?
Potential Starmer successor Wes Streeting says Brexit was a catastrophic mistake and must be reversed immediately. He says the future of Britain lies within the EU.
“Leave the door open, lads.”
– Scotland (and NI)
The economic gain would be minimal. No special deals, no incentives. So there’s no real reason for the UK to re-join.
Being out hasn’t been the cluster-fudge everyone makes out it is. So let’s just stay out
It just means the UK won’t join – which I am comfortable with. What I am not comfortable with is the UK wasting money defending EU countries. It is time that “brexit means brexit”. The EU cannot keep the UK at arms length and get anything from the UK in return.
Cherrypicking again. It has to be rejected.
Good.
Agreed, if you want special treatment, you’ve got to rejoin.
But that shouldn’t bring back the “extra special” treatment the UK got last time. If you want to join, you should have to adopt the Euro and join Schengen and all of it, full membership.
I think leaving was a big mistake and the way the vote was done was less than perfect. However I don’t see the UK going back in for a very long, maybe never. France will block it, so it is a total waste of time even considering it.
Why would we rejoin? It makes no sense. We are doing fine without the EU and we’ve been through the whole ordeal of getting out.
It’s not like the EU is doing better than the UK is.
Growth since 2020:
* UK = 6%
* Germany = 0.8%
* France = 7.3%
2026 Q1 growth:
* UK = 0.6%
* Germany = 0.3%
* France 0.0%
2026 expected growth:
* UK = 0.7% – 1.0%
* Germany = 0.8% – 1.1%
* France = 0.8%
Despite Brexit, the UK grew more than Germany but not as much as France. So far in 2026, the UK has outpaced Germany and France. The rest of the year, the IMF predict that the 3 economies will grow by roughly the same. The IMF has downgraded the UK’s growth from 1.0% to 0.7% but they have been very wrong about the UK’s economic forecasts in recent years so it wouldn’t surprise me if the UK continues to outpace the other 2.
That would mean rejoining is even more unlikely. Given the voting momentum for reform, I doubt it will happen regardless of special treatment in the nearest future.
Yep. We are not just going to be ‘welcomed back’.