Whether one is a Leaver or a Remainer, for most Britons Brexit has not worked out the way they wanted. The blame for the imbroglio can be shared between Westminster and Brussels. Keir Starmer has stated his intention to ‘turn a corner’ on Brexit and he launches that mission today in Berlin when he meets German chancellor Olaf Scholz. Among the items on the agenda are trade relations and immigration in what Starmer calls a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’ to restore a good working relationship.
Macron’s credibility has been on the wane within the EU long before this current crisis
There is another reason why now is a propitious moment for Starmer to reset Britain’s standing in Europe and that is the dwindling influence of Emmanuel Macron. No European leader has been more hostile, more obstructive and more, dare one say it, Anglophobic towards Britain in the last decade than Macron.
In his New Year’s Eve address to the French people in 2020 he described Brexit as ‘lies and false promises’, a theme he returned to this spring as he campaigned for the European elections.
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