Category Archives: Brexit

What makes a good citizen? Or more specifically, what makes a good French citizen?

In theory, you need look no further than me - a recent graduate of Frances compulsory four days of formation civique, or civic training, designed to get immigrants to better understand the values of the Republic and French society.

These training days, delivered in French, now await any Brit like myself who has migrated to France since the UK fully left the EU - and who is looking to stay long-term.

As one of the many bureaucratic hoops that immigrants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland have to jump through, the civic training days teach you all about French culture, values, history and practical things like how the social security system and other state institutions work. Essentially, how to be a good resident in your new home.

The whole process is a good idea in principle. Even though Ive visited France several times in the past and speak the language of Molire, it can be very disorientating to pitch up in a foreign land where you have a limited network and understanding of what its like to actually live there.

So in theory, the civic training is a bit of a lifeline as you drown amid a sea of forms to fill in, try in vain to work out which social benefits you might be entitled to, and generally attempt to establish yourself in the country.

In practice though, I found the days a bit hit and miss, especially from a UK perspective.

Lets start with one of the trainings main focuses: French and wider European values. Despite the current British governments apparent desire to distance itself as much as possible from anything remotely European, the truth is we havent diverged from EU principles that much since we Brexited over two years ago.

When learning about the importance of freedom, democracy and equality, I couldnt help but feel it was a bit redundant, because these are still clearly the hallmarks of modern British values too.

Theres no doubt that the UK has a huge way to go in some of these areas, be it womens rights or stamping out institutional racism, but the same could be said for lots of EU countries. Some of which have far worse records than the UK in certain areas.

Thats not to say learning about European values isnt necessary. Its important that people arriving from countries which might not be as liberal when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights or freedom of religion for example, know that France is - by and large - a free and tolerant country.

But for someone who comes from a place which at its core has a very similar set of values and culture to France (as much as people on both sides of the Channel might hate to admit it), it doesnt seem necessary.

Despite this, I quite enjoyed the more cultural aspects of my civic training days, including the mini history and geography lessons we had (there were no free samples of French cheese and wine to try, unfortunately).

Some of my classmates were surprised to find out that France isnt limited to lHexagone we know and love, but also has territory in the Americas and Africa.

I was proud of my ability to reel off various modern and historical French figures who have shaped the countrys past and present, including literary giants like Voltaire and Victor Hugo (a big thanks to my French A Level teachers).

And I was marginally disappointed when we only briefly glanced at the lyrics to La Marseillaise rather than singing it all together - one of my party tricks is that I know the first verse off by heart (which might be a damning indictment of what Im like at parties).

As strange as it might sound, another positive about the training was the homework they gave us at the end of one session - namely, setting ourselves three targets that would help us integrate into life in France. We then had to report back next session to share our experiences with the group and offer each other advice.

One of my targets was changing my UK driving licence to a French one. However, I soon found out that I was in the uniquely lucky situation that because it was issued before Brexit, it still counts as an EU licence for as long as it remains valid.

A nice side effect of the civic training was being able to meet other people in the same boat as me, from a variety of different places, including other European nations like Ukraine and various countries in Africa and the Middle East. I even exchanged numbers with a guy from Tunisia and have since met up with him for a drink, which is obviously handy when starting out in a new place.

So whats my verdict? All in all, theres definitely value in European countries making their migrants go through some sort of civic training.

Its a good idea to introduce foreigners to how local systems work, be it the numbers to call in an emergency, child benefit schemes or public healthcare. Theres lots Id have totally missed had it not been for those four days.

In fact, learning about things like that is so useful that its a wonder other EU citizens dont have to go through some sort of civic training when moving to France. Being part of the bloc, they are exempt.

But its not like the EU is even remotely uniform when it comes to the operations of the state.

Paradoxically though, it was these practical lessons that were also the least enjoyable - I much preferred hearing about Frances history, culture and values, possibly thanks to the comfort that exists in familiarity.

And because, ultimately, Im still a sucker for the idyllic image of France, where the wine flows and the accordions are aplenty.

Or perhaps its because, despite recent political events, I know Im still a good European citizen at heart.

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Im a post-Brexit expat who took a training course to learn how to be French - heres how I got on - Euronews

A total of 22 groups back the National Rejoin March which is set to take place on September 10 in London. Campaigners want a referendum on Britain rejoining the European Union or re-entering the bloc's single market.

The aim of the march is to unite supporters of the EU and show that there is strength in numbers.

Co-organiser Peter Corr said: "The Brexit [Express readers] were sold was a lie. We can see that now.

"So let's get our country back on track and rejoin at least the single market."

He claimed Britain is worse off after Brexit with stagnant wages, high inflation made worse by the UK's exit from the EU and housing which is still difficult to obtain.

Mr Corr added that key, traditional industries such as fishing, farming and logistics are being "crippled".

He said the backers of the march include people who had voted to leave the EU in 2016, but have since changed their minds.

Official partners listed on the march website include UK Rejoin the EU Ltd, Stay European, 16 Million Rising Radio, Grassroots for Europe, EUnite, Catharine Kingcome, Bremain in Spain, Sputnik Rat and Leeds for Europe.

Express.co.ukreaders reacted with fury to news of the march.

READ MORE ABOUT FEARS OVER PRINCE HARRY'S APPEARANCE

Fellow reader virginiapinkn added: "[W]e were born to be independent... another 5 years and they'll wonder what all the fuss was about... by then, it will have ceased to be of any importance whatsoever."

Exlancslad wrote: "The UK is much better being an independent nation not just another state in the EU."

Man in oz said: "Some people in Britain obviously want [Brexit] to fail. They can see that the best way to achieve that is to go back to the EU, which is failing before your very eyes."

OtherExpress.co.ukreaders stood by their Leave vote, arguing that rejoining the bloc would be undemocratic after a majority voted Leave in the 2016 referendum.

Milton keynes mum wrote: "I voted out and would do so again. Never wanted to be in the EC, not the EEC, nor the EU. Glad we are out."

Tabjunklies insisted: "Brexit is done, people need to get over it and accept the vote."

L65 added: "NO, NO, NO! There was a democratic vote and the majority voted to leave. We must stick by that otherwise democracy is dead in this country."

AllTorque commented: "When they gather 17.4 million followers, force a referendum and win it we will listen, you know democracy. Otherwise it is just obtuse noise."

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'Tough, we've LEFT' Rejoiners told to 'get used to' Brexit over plot to drag UK back in EU - Express

Thousands of Eurostar passengers faced travel bedlam on Sunday after multiple services were delayed or cancelled.

Temporary line closures between Paris and Lille forced Eurostar to scrap two trains on Sunday night, leaving would-be travellers packed into an overflowing departure lounge at Pariss Gare du Nord.

Furious passengers slammed the disgraceful delays as they scrambled to get tickets on outbound trains.

The delay is the latest issue to beset holidaymakers to France, after drivers catching the ferry or Eurotunnel trains to France endured bumper-to-bumper gridlock and lengthy delays.

Many Eurostar passengers faced severe delays on Sunday night as the provider cancelled two trains from Paris to London.

Subsequent services were delayed by up to four hours as stranded passengers desperately attempted to rebook. At the other end of the line, travellers at St Pancras also reported lengthy queues.

Travellers took to social media to vent their fury.

Train cancelled this evening and the next one not available until tomorrow night. Disgraceful, wrote one user.

Yikes, the Eurostar disaster is real, wrote another.

20.00 train cancelled and passengers moved to 20.30; 20.30 train delayed until 22.30 if they cancel this one, where will they put us all?

Images from Gare Du Nord show weary travellers lying on the floor of the station while awaiting updates.

In a video posted to Twitter, user Daniel Robinson expressed fears he would be stuck at Gare du Nord until Monday.

Three hours delay, possibly four, possibly going to have to stay overnight, this is just bedlam, he said.

The Eurostar chaos followed a weekend of hell for drivers at Dover and nearby Folkestone in Kent.

Over the weekend, cross-channel ferry passengers at the Port of Dover faced queues of up to 11 hours.

More than 30,000 cars passed through the port on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, serviced by between six and nine ticket booths.

Eurotunnel ticket-holders faced an equally dire situation: the AA branded Folkestone the new hotspot of holiday hell after the gridlock trapped thousands of would-be holidaymakers in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

British Foreign Minister Liz Truss attributed the travel nightmare to French passport control staff shortages.

However, French Transport Minister Clement Beaune tweeted that his country was "not responsible" for the extra passport checks required after Brexit.

British passport holders now need to have their passports stamped before they board the ferry or Eurotunnel train.

Chaos had subsided as of Monday morning. However, the traffic is likely to build again next weekend, said Toby Howe, the senior highway manager at Kent county council.

(Next weekend) is the second busiest getaway weekend of the summer holidays, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

As weve just found out the weekend just gone, traffic numbers travelling across the Channel were back to pre-pandemic levels and with the increased checks it is slower to get through, so it takes very little to cause those tailbacks.

Its a very vulnerable situation, it takes very little to cause further issues.

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Brexit, Eurostar cancellations and Dover delays: Whats behind the French and UK travel chaos? - Euronews

Organisations in Derry which play a vital role in supporting communities should not have to pay the price of the damaging and destructive Tory/DUP Brexit, Sinn Fin Councillor John McGowan has said.

Councillor McGowan was commenting ahead of tabling a motion at the Councils monthly meeting calling for the replacement of vital European funding lost as a result of Brexit.

A huge number of groups and organisations throughout this constituency relied onfunding previously provided by the EU, he said.

The European Social Fund financed employability programmes which help young people and people with disabilities to get back into work while the European Regional Development Fund assists the growth of small businesses and the transition to a zero carbon economy.

That has now been lost as a result of Brexit and the British Government has completely failed to honour its promise to replace this funding. In fact, the so-called Shared Prosperity Fund it created leaves the Northover 90m short of the 195m we received when we were in the EU.

That is potentially devastating for countless organisations that rely on this funding. They should not have to pay the price for the damaging and destructive Brexit imposed on us all by the DUP and the Tory Party.

We need to see this funding properly replaced. We need to hear what the Economy Minister is doing to address this issue and we need to see an Executive back up and running as the best way to bring some pressure to bear on the British Government to deliver on its commitments.

The full text of Councillor McGowan's motion reads: "That this Council commends the huge contribution of many organisations in this Council area which rely on support from the European Social Fund to maintain their services; recognises the uncertainty that these organisations now face as a result of Brexit and the ongoing failure of the British Government to provide adequate replacement funding; and calls on the Economy Minister to provide clarity over future arrangements and the British Treasury to replace the funding that has been lost."

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'Derry must not pay the price of Brexit destruction' - Derry Now

IN one of his final acts of vandalism, Tory Caligula, imbecile, fraud and clown Boris Johnson has steamrolled his post-Brexit trade deal with Australia through parliament without any debate or scrutiny. Johnson promised that any deal would be debated in parliament. This was another lie.

Farmers in the UK are going to be stiffed big time by the Tories. Many will be forced out of business. Food standards and animal welfare are lower in Australia. This is yet another sector of the economy that is going to be sacrificed because of Tory Brexit. A House of Commons committee found the deal would lower the price of a bottle of Australian wine by a few pence.

READ MORE:Truss accuses Sunak of 'Project Fear' and likens him to Gordon Brown in tense BBC debate

Thanks to the disaster of Brexit, millions of tonnes of fruit have been left to rot. All because the Tories have stopped EU workers from coming to do the work. This again was done to appease their incredibly stupid, culturally backward, provincial, racist, fanatical base. The Brexit prism is seen through the lens of empire nostalgia. The Tories have convinced these hayseeds that the British empire is about to be re-established.

Another direct consequence of the Tory Brexit are the two-day-long queues for lorries and holidaymakers trying to get to France. This scenario was set out in the UK Governments Project Yellowhammer papers in 2019. The Tories knew Brexit would cause these delays yet did nothing, lied and then attempted to blame the EU. Other scenarios set out by Yellowhammer include food and medical shortages as well as civil unrest.

The Tory Brexit disaster is not over. The worst is yet to come. The governments own Office for Budget Responsibility says it will do twice the damage to the economy that Covid-19 did. The EU has launched four court actions against the Tory government for breaches of the Northern Ireland Protocol. This was part of the oven-ready deal the Tories signed with the EU. This could lead to a trade war, making matters much worse.

READ MORE:Liz Truss trade union crackdown bid an 'egregious attack on workers'

The intellectually limited Liz Truss is likely to take over as Tory leader. She will be beholden to the ERG, the group of fanatical proto-fascist Brexiters who infest the Tory party. Labour have said there will be no reversal of Brexit. This means that the only way for Scotland to escape the madness created by Tory Brexit is through independence.

Alan HinnrichsDundee

THE Tory party membership hankers after the 70s life, but with the housing bubble wealth of today, and yet is rabidly pro-Brexit and pro-transportation to Rwanda.

Bear in mind that surveys after Brexit showed the main potential indirect benefits were a blue passport and a return to capital punishment. We should not be surprised that ships are now being proposed for detaining refugees, as criminals, ahead of their transportation elsewhere.

READ MORE:Boris Johnson says he wants to 'wipe away' his resignation

Whilst Brexit is essentially a 20th-century approach desired by those reminiscing over a Global Britain, it is apparently still not enough and the prison hulks of the 19th century are now being sought, presumably located in the Truss-proposed full-fat freeports.

Clearly there need to be warnings added to the signage at the rUK/Scotland Border, relatively simple yet pointed, such as Welcome to 21st-century Scotland together with the Gaelic equivalent, and for simplicity, Welcome to 19th-century rUK. Alternatively, You are now entering the 21st century, and You are now entering the 19th century.

There would be a huge row over this, but indyref2 would be greatly clarified, in terms of what century Yes2 or No2 gives Scotland. As for the freeport prison hulks, signage would simply refer to HMPS (add freeport name as required).

Stephen TingleGreater Glasgow

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The Tory Brexit disaster is far from over ... the worst is yet to come - The National

UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) have announced a new trans-Atlantic agreement to advance commercial nuclear fusion energy. The UK has signed a five-year deal to collaborate on a series of projects with CFS, a US-based firm, in which the UKAEA will support the development of fusion energy and related technologies.

Nuclear fusion is the energy that powers the sun and other stars, combining light elements in the form of hot, charged particles known as plasma to generate near endless amounts of energy.

According to a statement released by the UKAEA, this Collaboration Framework Agreement highlights the efforts of both parties to use the innovative research being done on nuclear fusion right now, and boost it with private sector support to harness low carbon commercial fusion energy.

Professor Ian Chapman, the UKAEA CEO, said: Achieving our shared missions to deliver low carbon and sustainable fusion energy involves working at the forefront of science, engineering, and technology.

This new collaboration agreement with CFS will help push these developments and capabilities, drive innovation and accelerate progress.

Fusion presents an exciting opportunity for the UK and were proud our ground-breaking work here continues to support economic growth and attracts such leading international partners.

Bob Mumgaard, the CFS CEO, added: CFS and UKAEA have a mutual interest and strong belief that public-private collaborations such as this represent a way to accelerate advances in commercial fusion energy technology and support CFS plans to deliver commercial fusion as quickly as possible.

UKAEA is a leader in fusion energy research and CFS plans to establish a UK presence as we leverage the combined skills and talents of both organisations to develop the fastest path to commercial fusion power on the grid.

Brexit Britain is at the forefront of developing nuclear fusion technology, with former Science Minister George Freeman noting that the UKAEA will see commercial fusion energy deployable by 2040.

READ MORE:Nuclear fusion breakthrough: World closer to limitless energy

Funded by the UK Government, Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) project is present in its initial, concept design phase, which will be completed by 2024.

As part of this latest deal, operations teams in both the UKAEA and CFS would be able to access each others technological facilities like robotics, while also sharing and learning best practices from fusion experiments.

The two would also collaborate on fuel cycle technologies, neutronics modelling, systems integration models, advanced manufacturing, diagnostics, remote handling and remote maintenance.

They would also work together to identify and answer emerging plasma physics questions, and help develop new breakthroughs to help the world harness limitless energy.

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Between 20252032, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) will develop the engineering design, with the reactor itself to then be constructed and commissioned by 2040.

According to the UKAEA, fusion has the potential to provide a near-limitless source of low carbon energy by copying the processes that power the sun and stars, where atoms are fused to release energy.

Fusion power creates nearly four million times more energy for every kilogram of fuel than burning coal, oil or gas.

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Brexit Britain poised to commercialise nuclear fusion with US deal in energy breakthrough - Express

There's an old political joke where a soul is asked to choose between heaven and hell and is given a trial run in each. Down in hell, he's shown around what amounts to the best country club in the world, plays a few holes of golf with Beelzebub, is served fine venison, and washes it down with long-vanished Bordeaux vintages in a tte--tte with the devil himself. Preferring this to sitting on clouds listening to lyre music surrounded by winged toddlers, he chooses hell, only to be thrust into a fire pit, watching his best friend be flayed alive by a pair of oversized demons. What happened to the country club, he asks? Satan wastes no time in putting the poor soul right: "Then, we were campaigning. Now, we're governing."

As prime minister, Boris Johnson gave Britain a government that ended up on the lower end of purgatorycloser to the decaying end of a dictatorship, with sex predators being appointed to positions of authority, admissions of mysterious visits to supposedly former KGB agents' villas, $1,000rolls of wallpaper, and attempts to extort a $180,000treehousefor his latest son, all against the background of a once-in-a-century pandemic and the most serious war in Europe since 1945.

The war and pandemic were of course outside his control. Brexit, however, is his responsibility. His decision to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union (he notoriously wrote a pro-Remain and a pro-Leave article before deciding to publish the second) is credited with giving it the 52 percent needed for victory. His takeover of the Conservative Party, ruthless purge of moderate Tories (including even Charles Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, as well as Winston Churchill's grandson Nicholas Soames), and decisive victory in the 2019 general election enabled him to get an agreement acceptable to the EU through Britain's Parliament.

Unlike his predecessor Theresa May's deal, which sought to avoid the need for a trade and customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and included arrangements for security cooperation, Johnson's required checks on goods traded between the island of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Johnson, however, sought later to renege on his own deal and the Northern Ireland Protocol that gives it legal force, going so far as to introduce a bill that would give British ministers the power to unilaterally violate the protocol.

Yet there is a fundamental difference between getting Brexit to happen and ensuring it sticks. Johnson's idea of Brexit, famously summed up as "pro having [cake] and pro eating it," has run up against its own impossibility and the incompetence with which it has been implemented. Six years after the vote, 53 percent of British votersthink they were wrong to leave the EU, and only 35 percent say that the decision was right.

The Tories are behind in the polls, and though some of that is due to Johnson's now tarnished brand, they are also suffering from being in power for 12 years and from an adverse economic climate. In addition, Keir Starmer, who leads the opposition Labour Party, has detoxified his party so that the worst people say about him is that he's "boring," while the third party, the Liberal Democrats, have become acceptable to left-leaning voters no longer put off by their time in government with the Tories between 2010 and 2015, while at the same time winning over the support of more pro-European former Tory voters.

This means that while Britain's majoritarian system usually gives the party that can assemble around 40 percent of the vote a parliamentary majority, tactical votingin which voters choose the candidate most likely to defeat the one they like least rather than the one they support the mostagainst Conservatives has returned.

The approximately 60 percent of the vote now shared by Labour, Greens, and Liberal Democrats is likely to be more concentrated on the candidates most likely to defeat Tory incumbents. Setting aside Scottish National Party support for the moment,current pollingwould produce a Labour governmentsupported by the Liberal Democratswith a very slim majority. Such a government would probably change the electoral system to a form of proportional representation, making the Tories' Brexit-reconciled coalition of voters unviable.

Now that pragmatic former soldier Tom Tugendhat has been eliminated from the Tory leadership contest, voters are likely to hear even less discussion about how to make the best of Brexit and even more determination to be tough on Brussels as the remaining candidates compete for the support of mostly anti-European party members. Yet, the route to Conservative success in the next election consists of more Brexit pragmatism, not less.

Current Tory support is vulnerable on two flanks. The "red wall" of Northern English seats formerly held by Labour and the "blue wall" of long-standing Tory seats in wealthy southern counties are both under threatfrom Labour in the north and the resurrected Liberal Democrats in the south. Red wall voters who switched to the Tories support Brexit but are vulnerable to economic shocks. The blue wall voters whom the Liberal Democrats are trying to poach opposed Brexit but have an economic interest in Tory government: They are generally affluent and support low taxes, low regulation, and other economically right-wing policies.

The main effect of Brexit has been to damage manufacturing on the island of Great Britain, which is no longer able to participate in Europe-wide supply chains. According to an economicanalysisby the Centre for European Reform, the goods trade is down 14 percent, adding a further Brexit shock to inflation caused by energy price rises and the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic. U.K. inflation is expected topeak at 11percent this year, compared to7 percent inside the eurozone.

This crunchhigher prices and lower outputdisproportionately hits areas in the so-called red wall of parliamentary seats in the Midlands and North of England where the Tories picked up seats from Labour in 2017 and 2019.

The blue wall in South East England depends more heavily on services, which escaped a Brexit hit (the Centre for European Reform analysis tentatively concludes that services trade has gone up since), and it is populated by Remainers who are nevertheless reconciled to Brexit, provided their prosperity is maintained.

Figures from Northern Ireland suggest a way forward. The Northern Ireland Protocol gives Northern Ireland's businesses access to both the U.K. and EU goods markets, and it has led to the region having thestrongest growthof all (apart from London), a change from years of decline relative to the rest of the United Kingdom.

The protocol's direct extension to the whole of the U.K. (which would essentially be the same as May's failed Brexit deal) would revitalize U.K. manufacturing in the red wall, eliminating many trade barriers with the EU, and allowing U.K. manufacturers to take part in European supply chains again, while reassuring blue wall voters that Brexit is being pursued with an eye to pragmatism. It would also alleviate the fears of unionists in Northern Ireland (the mostly Protestant political community in Northern Ireland that wants to stay part of the U.K.), who would then have exactly the same relationship with the EU as the rest of the U.K.

Formal endorsement of May's approach to Brexit is of course far too pragmatic for the current Conservative Party. The short period devoted to the Tory leadership racein which candidates compete for the votes of Tory members of Parliament, then of party membersdoes not offer the chance to develop such a radical argument.

But its spiritengaging with the needs of the manufacturing-centered economy of the red wall, adopting a pragmatic stance to keep the blue wall on their side, and extending the provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol to the rest of the U.K. in order to reassure unionistsoffers the best route to Conservative victory in the next election. It would be their best option for preventing a Labour-Liberal Democrat government that would enact electoral reform, free Labour from its dependence on Euroskeptic red wall seats, and keep the Tories out of power for long enough to undo Brexit altogether.

Like Dante, the Conservative Party has been offered a glimpse of the underworld by Johnson's mismanagement of Brexit. Returning to May's deal offers the chance to escape permanent confinement there.

Garvan Walsheis a former national and international security policy advisor to the British Conservative Party and the founder and CEO of Article7.

Disclaimer:This article first appeared on Bloomberg, and is published by special syndication arrangement.

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Boris Johnsons fall gives Brexit a chance to succeed - The Business Standard

The Tory leadership contest is growing increasingly hostile as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak have clashed over how they plan to handle China should they win the contest to become Britains next Prime Minister. Ms Truss' supporters have accused Mr Sunak of being soft on Beijing, with former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith claiming the Treasury, led by Mr Sunak at the time, was pushing for stronger economic ties. The comments come after Mr Sunak vowed to review all UK-Chinese research partnerships, and accused Bejing of "stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities.

The leadership contenders have also clashed over Brexit during the contest.

In one of the televised debates, Mr Sunak asked Ms Truss: "Liz, in your past you've been both a Liberal Democrat and a Remainer.

"I was just wondering which one you regretted most?"

While Ms Truss has managed to win over ardent Brexiteers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker, her previous support for Remain and her vote to remain in the EU in 2016 could come back to bite her.

In May 2016, she gave a speech to the Food and Drink Federation, in which she argued the UK would be "better off" in a reformed EU.

She said: I do think its in all of our interests to communicate the real impact on the ground; the real impact this would have on jobs, livelihoods because what we know is less trade would mean fewer investments, it would mean fewer jobs and that would feed through to peoples incomes.

And that just doesnt affect me and you in this room, that affects everyone in the overall economy.

"So even if youre in a company that doesnt export, the company that does export will be buying less of your services and I think thats a message we really need to get across in the closing weeks of this campaign.

But I have great faith in the British people; I think the British people are sensible people [and] they understand fundamentally that, economically, Britain will be better off staying in a reformed EU.

Then, a month later, Ms Truss tweeted this: Leave cannot name one country we would get a better trade deal with if we left the EU."

When Theresa May became Prime Minister, Ms Truss was appointed to a Government job as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

READ MORE:'The country will need him again' Johnson poised to make comeback

It was at this point she appeared to suddenly change her mind on Brexit, saying that she had also seen the opportunities of leaving the EU.

Ms Truss said at the time: I believed there would be massive economic problems but those havent come to pass and Ive also seen the opportunities.

The other thing is it was a big moment on June 23 when British people voted to leave and it was an expression about what kind of country we wanted to be and I think that has changed the debate in this country as well.

Last week, Ms Truss once again tried to bolster her Brexit credentials, admitting she was wrong to back Remain in 2016.

She told the BBC: "I fully embraced the choice that the people of Britain have made.

"I was wrong and I am prepared to admit I was wrong. Some of the portents of doom didn't happen and instead we have actually unleashed new opportunities."

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Ms Truss is continuing her staunch defence of Brexit as she blames France for the chaos in Dover, not the UK's departure from the EU.

She demanded France fix the avoidable and unacceptable situation as long queues grew over the weekend.

But France's transport minister, Clment Beaune responded: The French authorities are mobilised to control our borders and facilitate the traffic as much as possible. I discussed this constructively with my counterpart [Grant Shapps]. But France is not responsible for Brexit.

Queues in Dover have caused chaos for people travelling, and have been blamed on post-Brexit border checks as well as understaffed checkpoints.

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Liz Truss anti-Brexit speech unearthed: 'Britain would be better off in EU' - Express

This is a long, hot summer in Britain, and 150,000 people are choosing our next prime minister.

One candidate is charmlessly patrician, full to bursting with clever, informed answers. The other talks about challenging the orthodoxya fancier version of draining the swampand is accused of denying reality. Care to make a bet on who will win?

Last week, the race to succeed Boris Johnson narrowed to two candidates, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. They will spend the summer appealing to the only people with a voteConservative Party members, who will register their choice by mail or onlinebefore the result is announced on September 5. How many of these powerful electors are there? The most common estimate is 150,000, equivalent to 0.2 percent of the British population, but no one outside the party knows for sure, because the Tories wont give out hard numbers on the size of their membership. The next prime minister could be decided by the votes of 1 million people. Or by three dogs in a trench coat. We just have to trust them, whoever they are.

Anne Applebaum: What Brexit did to Boris Johnsonand Britain

If this sounds like a bad system, it is. This is the second time in six years that the Conservative Party has toppled a prime minister and chosen a successor without consulting the wider electorate. In American terms, this summers contest between Truss and Sunak is a primary without a subsequent electiona recipe for candidates to pander to the prejudices and obsessions of a minority, without worrying too much about the judgment of the majority. The next nationwide ballot is not expected until at least 2024.

When the United States allows a few hundred thousand people to decide an election, at least it asks them to live in Michigan or Wisconsin. The Conservative Party membership is more geographically diverse, but it is equally unrepresentative of the entire United Kingdom. Older, well-off, white southerners may be a wee bit of a caricature, but it isnt so very far from the truth, Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, recently told the Financial Times. These voters are more economically secure than the average Briton, given that homeownership rates rise with age, and less bothered by rising interest rates, since many have paid off their mortgage. They are therefore less likely to feel a sense of impending economic doom than low-income, working-age people are.

They are also much more likely to have voted to leave the European Union. You might expect that to improve the chances of Rishi Sunaka Brexiteerover Liz Truss, who voted to Remain. Truss even made one of the standout speeches of the 2016 campaign, arguing that less trade would mean fewer investments, it would mean fewer jobs, and that will feed through to peoples incomes I think the British people are sensible people. They understand, fundamentally, that economically Britain would be better off staying in a reformed EU.

But since 2016, Truss has stealthily accomplished one of the great rebrands of modern politics. She has become a born-again Brexiteer, displaying all the zeal of the convert. Her campaign for the leadership has leaned hard on her ability to seize the opportunities available outside the EU, first as trade minister and then as foreign secretary. So how great are these opportunities? And how impressive is her record of capitalizing on them? Let me answer by telling you that one of her supporters, Thrse Coffey, offered up the reintroduction of beaversyes, big teeth, build dams, those beaversas one of Trusss biggest achievements in government. Big whoop. Rishi Sunak, a wealthy former financier, could beat this record in an afternoon if he wanted, simply by obtaining three dozen eagles on the black market and releasing them in his back garden.

Read: Britains unbridgeable divide

So far, every poll of Conservative members puts Truss ahead of Sunak. Her greater appeal to Tory members has several potential explanations, although none of the obvious ones are immediately convincing. (One pollster privately confessed to me that he struggles to see what Tory members love so much about Truss.) Sunak quit Boris Johnsons government, helping to bring it down, while Truss kept the faith. Maybe Conservative members value loyalty. Sunak wont promise immediate tax cuts to voters struggling with rising prices and energy bills; Truss wants at least 30 billion of them. Maybe Conservative members think lower taxes are the best route to economic growth, and reject Sunaks argument that true conservatism means discipline and prudence. Sunak went to an expensive private boarding school and Truss attended a state-funded school. Maybe Conservatives dislike privilegebut then again, Sunaks parents were immigrants to Britain, and both candidates attended Oxford University. None of these explanations quite fits.

What Conservative members certainly are not looking for is the slickest or most alpha candidate. Both Truss and Sunak are sort of dweeby. There is probably no good way for a politician to boast in a speech that they are opening up new pork markets, but Trusss self-satisfied smile after doing so has become a haunting meme. Sunak, meanwhile, is fastidious and obsessive; he always reminds me of Niles Crane from Frasier. He once handed out coasters to journalists because their sweaty drinks were too distracting, and he limits himself to one Coca-Cola a week, as a Saturday night treat with his wife. That wife, by the way, is an Indian telecommunications heiress whos even richer than Maris Crane.

That leaves Brexit, which is now less a policy than a vibe. Boris Johnson associated Brexit with his own boosterismmaking Britain great again!and that association has stuck. No Negative Nellies or Cautious Colins will be tolerated. Any politician who warns, as Sunak has done, that the countrys finances are still battered by COVID-19, and that more economic pain is on the way, is now seen in some miasmic, indefinable way as betraying the promise of Brexit. Things were supposed to get better once we left the EU, after all, and since an estimated three-quarters of the voters in this contest are Brexiteers, they do not want to be told they bought a lemon. Trusss born-again Brexitism is more flattering: She says now that she would vote Leave if the referendum were held again. In other words, yes, she was once a doubter, but she has changed. And there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just men who need no repentance.

Helen Lewis: The Brexit revolution that wasnt

The power of Trusss conversion was obvious at the debate between her and Sunak, which was hosted by the BBC in the Midlands city of Stoke-on-Trent on Monday night. The audience was made up of Conservative members, and the difference from previous crowds was stark. In Channel 4s earlier debate, with an audience drawn from across the electorate, the general consensus was that Johnson was a bounder, a cad, and a mountebank, and that anyone who stayed in his cabinet was tainted by association. The Conservative members in Stoke responded differently. When Truss rated Johnsons time in office seven out of 10, the audience barely stirred. When Sunak was asked the same question, he first equivocated on Johnsons broader record and was greeted by silence. Then he declared, Actually, in delivering a solution to Brexit, and winning an election, thats a 10 out of 10. Youve got to give the guy credit for that. No one else could have done that. Those lines drew the biggest applause of the night. In short, this race for the Conservative leadership leaves no space for a balanced appraisal of Brexitthat Britain obtained greater control over immigration and trade policy at the price of an Irish border crisis, more friction in trade, and the loss of other rights. No, it has to be all upside. Boris Johnson won bigly, and his triumph was glorious.

This sentiment made another appearance in Stoke when the host, Sophie Raworth, asked both candidates whether the recent chaos at British portswhich left families heading to France stuck in gridlocked traffic for hours last weekendwas caused by Brexit. No, they said in unison. But why is France now stamping the passports of Britons heading off to camping trips in Brittany, when once it waved them through? Because when Britain took back control of its borders, so did France. And even if the French are not employing enough border officials, as Johnsons government asserts, what recourse does a Britain outside the EU have except to whine about it? But again, any criticism of Brexit is forbidden; blame the French instead. Reality denial is now the price of leading the Conservative Party.

Overall, it was a bad debate for Sunak, who pushed Truss hard on her tax plans and frequently interrupted her during the first questions. Afterward, a Truss-campaign spokesperson accused him of mansplaining. Fighting words, though Sunaks mistake was more damaging than casual sexism. He was orthodoxysplaining.

Sunak is clearly aware of his image problem: He constantly stresses his middle-class background, and whenever he is asked about climate change, he claims to take advice from my two young daughters, who are the experts on this in our household. This is just as odd as the time Elizabeth Warren promised to let a 9-year-old vet her candidates for education secretary. Both statements spring from the same impulse of trying to look folksy and authentic rather than pointy-headed and elitist.

Nice try, but so far its not working for Sunak. A snap poll by Opinium found that a random sample of voters declared the debate to be a draw, and that Sunak had a small lead on the question of who would make the better prime minister. But among Conservative voters, the winner was clear: Liz Truss. On the British right, just like in America, a born-again believer is more appealing than the avatar of elite consensus, the credentialed insider, the man saying hes from the government and hes here to help.

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Britains Next Prime Minister Will Have to Be a True Believer - The Atlantic

July 25, 2022 4:17 pm(Updated July 26, 2022 5:10 pm)

Theres a lot to be said for changing your mind, particularly in politics.

In our hyper-polarised world, where tribal connections and allegiances matter more than cool assessment of the facts, changing your mind is increasingly celebrated as a noble act. Podcasts, radio programmes, blogs and books laud the journey that some open-minded leaders manage to take.

This is partly because its often not easy to do. We know from academic experiments people find admitting theyre wrong embarrassing and that its psychologically painful to give up your pre-existing convictions. But we also know that we often admire others when they do.

As that archetype of grown-up assessment of shifting evidence, John Maynard Keynes, said, When the facts change, I change my mind what do you do?

Conservative leadership hopeful Liz Truss used almost exactly the same phrasing in an interview explaining her personal switch from useless remainer to the favoured candidate by many arch-Brexiteers in the race to be our next PM. Her experience as foreign secretary, she says, convinced her of the opportunities available to a free Britain, and that the portents of doom havent come to fruition. She echoed similar sentiments about a journey when she was criticised by rival Rishi Sunak about once being a Liberal Democrat.

But there are always two stories told about switching. Some will see them as honest, painful and evidence-driven. And others will portray them as selfish, convenient and evidence-free.

And, as many have pointed out, the counterpoint to this Damascene conversion is that several of the warnings that Truss herself gave in a speech to the Food and Drink Federation in May 2016, five weeks before the referendum, have, to a large extent, come true. The food industry has been one of the hardest hit, there has been a huge increase in bureaucracy, and investment in the UK has decreased relative to countries still in the single market.

But do either of Trusss U-turns or the possible shakiness of the rationale really matter? Almost certainly not. Truss is open to attacks on two fronts but neither now carry much threat.

First, the contrast with Sunaks impeccable Brexit-supporting record is negated by her endorsement from the majority of ERG (European Research Group) members. As chair Steve Baker said in a radio interview, Truss has completed the journey that the whole nation needs to go on. She may well have been for remain, but now we all need to be reconciled to the direction of travel of the country.

Converts are irresistible to believers in a cause, because they show the way for others.

The second front is driven by commentators asking Truss to explain what changed her mind. The implication is that this is not a sincere conversion but a calculated shift to curry favour, that casts doubt on her character more than the decision itself. But this is unlikely to gain much traction, not least because its difficult for her rival to exploit: to really hit home, it requires a focus on drawbacks of Brexit.

In any case, the public, and, more importantly, Conservative party members, wont care nearly as much as commentators.

We know the general public are pretty evenly divided on whether politicians changing their mind is a good thing: Ipsos and YouGov polling consistently shows a third think its a sign of weakness, incompetence and lack of conviction, a third that its a positive signal that politicians are listening and adapting, and a third dont really have a view.

It depends on the circumstances, and most importantly, whether the change is in your direction. And, as the polling suggests, we shouldnt assume people are paying that much attention. Even among Conservative supporters, only 10 per cent say they know a great deal about Liz Truss. This is put into sharper relief by the fact that five per cent of Conservatives also say they know a great deal about Stewart Lewis, a fictional candidate made up by the pollsters.

And, in the end, the majority of Conservative members seem convinced by Truss, according to YouGov polling. Not only does she have a lead in voting intentions over Sunak, she is more trusted despite the attempts to question her conviction: 63 per cent trust her to tell the truth, compared with 48 per cent trusting Sunak.

Changing your mind seems fraught, but its not something to be automatically lauded or criticised, and most of the time, it doesnt matter nearly as much as we think.

Bobby Duffy is Director of the Policy Institute at Kings College London, and author ofGenerations: Does When Youre Born Shape Who You Are?

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Who cares if Liz Truss changed her mind about Brexit? The public certainly don't - iNews