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Worth repeating - for the UK to rejoin the EU will require a level of skilful handling by Westminster and Whitehall several levels above anything we've seen since 2016.

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Wouldn't of course be a UK-EU Summit without some drama beforehand, and tuition fees remain a thorny topic that will need some sort of handling. www.ft.com/content/011a...

Burnham’s EU reset hit by French demands on university fees

Rejecting closer ties with EU would be ‘dereliction of duty’, prime minister to tell MPs

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The UK-EU Summit is bound to say something about next steps *because that's what summits do*, and that hasn't really started because previous UK efforts to put things on the table didn't really go anywhere. A challenge for the next month. bsky.app/profile/simo...

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YES is "a scheme" so that's a deal as well. The rest won't be. At least that's how it reads, which is as expected.

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Right now, the fact there is no process for future UK-EU relations is ok. There will be deals to implement, further negotiations on energy at least, and pretty obviously conversations ahead of the next UK election. Being in a tearing rush didn't previously work. bsky.app/profile/anan...

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Stranger things have happened

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EU-UK summit to take place in Brussels on 20 November

UK-EU Summit scheduled for 20 November, deals on food and drink, emissions trading, and youth mobility are expected. www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

consilium.europa.eu

The second annual EU-UK Summit after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will take place in Brussels on 20 November 2026.

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"this is not how you conduct negotiations" says Kemi Badenoch. A terrible Trade Secretary, because she had no idea then and still has none today.

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Andy Burnham goes a little further on EU relations by committing to a dialogue on options after the Summit, and to proceed with transparency, not something we have seen before - as I may have mentioned on a few occasions.

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Brexit and Trump failed, the trade hawks against China have failed, the world simply being too inter-connected for the simplistic foundations of their thinking. Overdue that we update our maps of the world's economies pdq.

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I might have been writing for some time that the death of globalisation was heavily exaggerated, might even have spent far too long writing a paper on what really happened and what that means for the future. bsky.app/profile/davi...

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Populists Are Losing Their War on Globalization

"...a decade after the populists rose to power by asserting national interests over all else, we’re more connected than ever" Time to bury the deglobalisation myth, alongside the parallel one that politicians / neoliberalism created globalisation. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

bloomberg.com

A decade after Brexit and Trump’s election, the global economy is more integrated than it was before the populist backlash began.

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 6h

Do the benefits of talking about it for your career count? Or, how about, it is a possible bridge towards the Jersey model... (hides)

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 6h

The correct version of the Brexit regulatory story is that the leave advocates thought only Brussels regulated and then discovered that not only wasn't true, but that business actually wanted things like data adequacy and alignment with their largest markets

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 6h

Old school Little Englander nonsense about regulations. The reason the UK didn't massively deregulate after Brexit was 1/ because regulations and standards are international norms, and 2/ the people and more importantly politicians even businesses of the UK want them.

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Craig Levein reveals he attended 'exorcism' in Kirkcaldy with Gordon Brown to sign Raith Rovers player

Ok folks, finally we have more details of Gordon Brown while Chancellor in the car park of Raith Rovers trying to sign a player, as first reported I think in Damian McBride's book www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fife...

thecourier.co.uk

Gordon Brown and Craig Levein attended a church in Kirkcaldy in 2006 to persuade defender Marvin Andrews to rejoin Raith Rovers after he was released by Rangers.

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...even weirder but I think mostly fraudulent excuses for those obsessing with sovereignty were the belief that the UK had somehow not been entangled with the rest of Europe for a thousand years. Be in it, don't, but spare me your reinvention of the EU

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Something about the EU that has always caused weird analyses by too many UK folk, from the idea it was somehow totally different to the club of nations that would be ideal, to the ideas of reform that might or already had happened to change everything.

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 9h

I think Burnham is making an interesting effort here to get on top of the argument, as a good politician should

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No sorry, already claimed that for me and @simonusherwood.bsky.social...

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If the US can't afford an all out trade war with China then the same and more so applies to the EU as the smallest and most easily divided of the three. An awful lot of gung-ho analysts are missing this essential point.

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Back in the day quite a few. Smaller EU then mind.

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Quite whether the EU can hold their own position on China given the weight of totally unrealistic expectation of turning back the clock is a rather big question. As per Trump relations, expect lots of talk of big action but never quite pulling the trigger to do so.

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Warm words from China for their EU deal even though it restricts certain car exports. One has to remember that their primary goal is always political stability. While right now for the EU I think it is to be seen doing something without risking damaging trade war. www.ft.com/content/7e48...

EU ‘safeguards’ hybrid car sector from Chinese imports under new deal

Auto sector welcomes ‘understanding’ reached with Beijing but other industries warn China’s huge trade surplus will persist without further action

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Any PM has an eye on the polls, and few will care about him having ruled it out if he then changes his mind because he's really popular - if that happens

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Might write this up properly, but if you compare the denial of the first 6-9 months of the Starmer government that there would be youth mobility with the EU compared to Burnham's pivot to positivity and even possible rejoin within 3...

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Well the view of slow moving may have to change, but the final question is the one he has to overcome

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Dr Stylite @columnist.bsky.social · 11h

Just checking back to July. Not too bad. Can I claim reasonably high marks on manufacturing and movement of people being the clear game-changers, even if the latter is being handled differently to my thoughts then? ecipe.org/insights/new...

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Reposted by David Henig

0n behalf of the Brexit community, all those exhausted combatants and analysts who thought their day in the spotlight was now lost in the mists of time, who had lapsed into semi retirement on their metaphorical sun loungers, I would like to announce: EVERYONE, WE’RE BACK!

static.klipy.com

The Muppets: Gonzo, Kermit, Miss Piggy & Friends

ALT: The Muppets: Gonzo, Kermit, Miss Piggy & Friends

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Wouldn't the truly British way be to mumble "sorry" under our breath and just start hesitantly attending meetings in Brussels anyway?

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Upbeat with caveats about a mile wide

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Occurs to me in response to another post that Burnham has been very quick to learn and move on from his government's initial (continuity) position to lecture the EU over Made in Europe. Interesting comparison to the leaden handling of the issue in Labour after 2022.

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Seems to me the learning since the summer of Made in Europe has been rapid, not least compared to the previous incumbent

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Lot of questions being raised about Farage being a fear for the EU in the event of Rejoin. True, but less than the Conservatives I'd have thought, just for the simple matter of time. His political or personal survival to 2036 is hardly guaranteed.

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Yes, a lot of questions would be asked about this

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What is clear is that a new Prime Minister has changed the UK's EU debate. In a way he now needs others - MPs, pressure groups, business etc - to step up in amplifying rejoin. Not least while the Brexit backing parties haven't quite worked out their lines (though opposed, obvs)

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Caveats are obvious, not least the other countries in talks to join the EU, what might happen in France or indeed other countries, and that accession in general is right now a very low Brussels priority. But that is what a UK government would have to change.

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Labour voters overwhelmingly want Andy Burnham to commit to rejoining EU, poll shows

Another variant today, for the UK to rejoin by 2036, a similar sort of approach, mentioning but again somewhat under-selling the need for making a case that tells EU folk that there is a much more positive approach to that which went before. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

independent.co.uk

Exclusive: New 10-year plan for re-entry to the European Union in 2036 being put to the prime minister

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Burnham to urge MPs to embrace closer ties with EU

There are interesting signs from Number 10 that Andy Burnham understands the need for positive mood music about the EU, after initial mis-steps over Made in Europe lectures, in particular bold claims over it helping immigration. Much more would be needed. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

theguardian.com

Post-recess statement will focus on damage caused by Brexit and the need to cooperate on immigration and trade

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Having been a subject about which few dared speak, rejoining the EU is now being talked about. Whether that is realistic and could even be done in one Parliamentary / EU term really depends on the UK government being overwhelmingly positive. www.ft.com/content/3aa9...

UK could be fast-tracked back into EU, pro-Brussels group argues

Best for Britain says alignment between London and bloc would speed up any rejoining process as Andy Burnham prepares ‘options’

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So many wonderful / mad events across the country, which we don't celebrate nearly enough.

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Football is becoming a useful medium to explain the modern world - patronage systems run by oligarchs, a few hugely wealthy clubs and a tail of millions of others, Europe losing influence - and @simonkuper.bsky.social is the ideal author to explain that. www.ft.com/content/8c0e...

Why Fifa’s Infantino is so hard to topple

As challengers emerge, patronage continues to underpin a tenacious presidency

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There are elements here unique to France, and then there is wisdom applicable to the UK and elsewhere in Europe. With no easy pathways to sufficient growth, an ageing population, and rising debt costs, there is a squeeze on. And an awful lot of denial about this.

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Follow the methods of Trump that have horribly undermined the US except with a far less robust economy to start. But then since Reform and Conservatives both plan to put up barriers to 50% of our trade we know they both have no idea.

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