For the first time since taking office, Labour’s leadership is openly confronting the economic damage caused by Brexit. Speaking at the Cliveden Literary Festival, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was “glad that Brexit is a problem whose name we now dare speak,” describing the impact of Britain’s departure from the European Union as “hitting our country hard.”
His remarks came just days after Prime Minister Keir Starmer used his Labour Conference speech to condemn those who “lied to this country, unleashed chaos, and walked away after Brexit.” It was the clearest signal yet that the government is prepared to name the damage after years of political caution.
Streeting spoke of an “enormous amount of jeopardy” facing Britain after more than a decade of “low productivity and low growth.” He said people were paying more in taxes while feeling they were getting less, and that Brexit was “part of” the reason for the stagnation.
At Conference, Starmer connected that stagnation directly to what he called “the politics of grievance,” a politics he said was embodied by Nigel Farage and Reform UK. “When was the last time you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain’s future?” he asked delegates. “He doesn’t like Britain, doesn’t believe in Britain, wants you to doubt it just as much as he does.”
The Prime Minister framed Brexit as one of a series of failures rooted in complacency and misplaced faith in globalisation. “We placed too much faith in the idea that the world would always be on hand to give us the goods,” he said. “It does matter if our industry leaves, if we don’t train our young people, if wealth creation is hoarded by just a few communities.”
This marks a sharp change in tone. For years, Labour leaders avoided direct criticism of Brexit to defuse accusations that they sought to reverse it. But as economic data continues to show the cost, from a £37 billion annual loss in trade to falling investment and productivity, both Starmer and Streeting are now naming the problem plainly.
The government’s forthcoming Budget is expected to formalise that shift. Treasury officials are reportedly preparing for the Office for Budget Responsibility to downgrade Britain’s productivity forecasts, with ministers ready to acknowledge Brexit as a key factor in the downturn.
For the European Movement, these are overdue truths. Admitting the scale of the damage is not divisive; it is responsible. Britain cannot fix what it still refuses to name. The next step must be rebuilding the cooperation, trust and shared prosperity that our departure from the EU has so severely undermined.