Words by Stephen Gethins, MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, who is hosting a debate in Westminster today on the impact of the 2016 referendum on the UK.

It is no surprise that those who shouted the loudest about the benefits of leaving the EU a decade ago are the quietest on its effects now. No wonder that no other else wanted to follow the UK out of Europe! 

Take Nigel Farage for example. He now campaigns on a promise to ‘stop the boats’ yet he refuses to acknowledge that it wasn’t until the UK left the EU that irregular crossings across the Channel increased exponentially. This is all after him arguing in 2016 that the “only way we can control immigration is by leaving the EU.”

However, the overwhelming evidence tells us that the reverse is true with detections of irregular migration falling by a whopping 37% across the EU in 2024, whereas the numbers in the UK have grown. 

No wonder it is those of us who campaigned to remain in the European Union who continue to put this issue on the agenda. I applied for the Westminster Hall debate to mark ten years on from the Brexit referendum as someone who remains pro-EU and would rejoin tomorrow. I am not alone in this aspiration as consistent polling shows that the UK public are in support of rejoining the EU.

In my own country Scotland, a whopping three quarters of all voters of all ages would rejoin. More broadly in the UK, the number is (unsurprisingly) especially high amongst young people, with a recent poll conducted by Savanta showing that 83% of 16-24-year-olds would vote to rejoin the EU.  

Young people are quite entitled to feel let down. The removal of rights and opportunities enjoyed by previous generations was one of the most appalling aspects of Brexit. We as politicians should always strive to leave behind more opportunities for future generations, than we ourselves enjoyed. Whilst the belated plans for the UK to rejoin the Erasmus programme are to be welcomed, it does not go far enough to address the breadth of experiences that our young people are missing out on by no longer being able to benefit from freedom of movement across Europe. 

We are also poorer by remaining outside of the EU, with analysis by the House of Commons Library showing that because of Brexit, the UK Treasury is losing £90bn a year. This astonishing figure almost equates to the entire budget for the three devolved nations combined, and this is without accounting for the billions that the UK continues to pay to the EU every year as part of the Brexit financial settlement. That is £250 million the Treasury must find from elsewhere every single day. These numbers are staggering and begs the question as to why the Government remain steadfast in their commitment to their red lines around staying outside of the Single Market and Customs Union. 

Even in areas where the Government has committed to a closer relationship with the EU, such as the UK-EU security and defence partnership announced in May last year, they consistently fall short of delivering any policy of substance. The recent collapse in negotiations regarding the UK involvement in the €150 billion SAFE financial assistance programme is not only detrimental to the UK defence industry who would have gained from access to this funding, but it also hinders the potential to improve defence capabilities across our continent. 

Other Europeans understand that the security of our continent is at a critical juncture in history. As democratic Europe continues to pull ever closer together in the face of the threat posed by Russia, the UK has been left exposed by leaving the EU, with this exposure being exacerbated by an unreliable partner in the USA. Our European neighbours continue to be astonished by the damage the UK has done to its national security by decreasing cooperation at a time of such volatility and danger and as Ukrainians die to defend their rights to sovereignty and to integrate with the rest of Europe. 

Europe has also pulled together to become more self-sufficient to ensure greater energy and food security for its citizens. In contrast, since the UK left the EU in 2021, more households in Britain are food insecure. Inflation continues to rise and this has been compounded by the fact that as a significant number of workers in the agricultural sector had historically come from EU countries, the sector has experienced labour shortages for several years.

Additionally, the UK continues to have significantly higher electricity costs when compared with other European countries, which is yet another issue worsened by Brexit that adds further pressure on British households already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. 

It is beyond time for Westminster to face up to the consequences of its decisions on a hard Brexit that leave us poorer and less secure. Anniversaries such as this provide an opportunity for reflection on success and the benefits of learning from failure and as we mark ten years on from the referendum, it is clear that the project to leave the EU has failed the British public.

We need to ensure that Europe remains on the agenda at Westminster and that is why debates like mine today are critical for providing opportunities to make the case for a closer relationship with Europe.