Ten years after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, Brexit remains one of the most contested political decisions in recent British history. Its legacy is increasingly shaped by diverging interpretations of sovereignty and the UK's place in the world. RFI spoke to Brexit supporter Robert Oulds, director of British think tank the Bruges Group, about what has changed.
According to its website, the Bruges Group "spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union".
Robert Oulds, director of the think tank, reflects on what he sees as the enduring benefits of leaving the bloc, addresses criticisms of the project and offers his perspective on how the UK has changed over the last decade.
RFI: Looking back at the 10 years since the referendum in 2016, what do you think Brexit has most clearly changed for Britain?
Robert Oulds: Essentially, Britain is now outside of the European Union. That means it's a sovereign country and the buck stops with our own politicians. [They] are fully accountable to the people, and they can't just say, ‘this is a European Union rule, we have to just do this because a bureaucracy or a foreign court, maybe the European Court of Justice has told us to do that'.
RFI: What is the strongest case for Brexit today, if you had to make it in one minute?
RO: The enormous financial cost of the European Union. Since we've left, countries have had to pay more to the European Union. There was a cap at around 1 percent of GDP of a member state paying into the European Union's finances. That has now gone up. So we'd be paying more.
Thankfully, we're out the European Union now, so any problems that happen on the continent of Europe financially, we wouldn't be held liable for them,
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REMARKS by Robert Oulds, director of the Pro-Brexit Bruges Group
Jan van der MadeAlso, we'd be at greater risk. Many European Union economies are deeply indebted, just like Britain, but in some cases, more so. We would be having to pay into European Union schemes that were there to bail out those who had poor finances, and recklessly spent and borrowed.
So Britain would have to be borrowing money to underwrite the debts of the EU and other member states. That's putting the British taxpayer at enormous risk and is a financial burden. Thankfully, we're out of the European Union now. So any problems that happen on the continent of Europe financially, we wouldn't be held liable for them.
RFI: Which Brexit promise do you think has been misunderstood by critics?
RO: The promise of controlling immigration. We've had governments which pledged to bring in Brexit that have really opened up the floodgates. There was a promise of restricting it from Europe but opening it up to the rest of the world.
And that was a promise that most certainly has been delivered, to the chagrin of many people, when of course we have now a situation where there's literally millions have come from around the world, something that's known as the 'Boriswave' – [referring to] Boris Johnson, [who] finally took us out of the European Union very half-heartedly.
RFI: What concrete powers has Britain regained?
RO: That we wouldn't be under the European Court of Justice, which is absolutely vital for any country to call itself a sovereign, independent nation state, a democracy. Another key aspect is trade. Britain has made trade agreements with other countries around the world sooner than the European Union would.
We always did, we've traded far more globally than we did with the European Union historically. That's been [a] project that began in Elizabethan times, and in the Victorian era really took off and now we're discovering that, so we're making better trade deals than what the EU would do.
RFI: The popularity of Brexit has fallen tremendously over the decade, from having majority support 10 years ago to a clear minority today. Where did it go wrong?
RO: Brexit hasn't gone wrong. We published a book, 75 Brexit Benefits, which details specific benefits that the UK has taken advantage of and has come about through leaving the European Union. That list is growing as we make more decisions ourselves. That means there's more benefits to be had.
Times have been tough for everybody since Brexit. Covid came along and there was a massive increase in the national debt, people left the workforce and in many cases haven't returned. The economy has been sluggish because of Covid and the absurd lockdowns that some people were forced to endure.
People can believe what they want about Brexit and whether it's been a success but the country wouldn't be voting to rejoin. If there was a referendum on rejoining, which there wouldn't be, people would vote no.
RFI: What is your response to claims that Brexit has increased problems for exporters?
RO: Well, Britain's exports to the rest of the world have actually increased. Our export trade has increased since exiting the European Union. Our trade has increased. It's been a win.
