EU deal will grow economy and deliver jobs

DECIDING to join or leave the European Union, as it is now known, has throughout my life been a political hot potato on the left and right with two referendums in 1975 and 2016.

- Mary Glindon

Leaving in 1975 would have been less disruptive after just two years as a member, while leaving after the second referendum was inevitably more complex because our connections had thickened within the EU for nearly 50 years.

The immediate impact of Brexit has been a 4% reduction in our national wealth and the loss of 21% of our exports and 7% of our imports.

Proponents of Brexit argue that any benefits are bound to take time and hail the return of sovereignty. Sovereignty is ours to keep or share, according to our wishes. The old case for EU membership was that we gained more than we lost but that argument is settled.

But we couldn’t have known in 2016 that going it alone would soon become even more difficult in a world increasingly dominated by huge trading powers Europe itself, America, and China.

If we'd known that, we may well have decided to stay. But we cannot return to being a member of the EU and Labour has also made it clear that we would not rejoin the Customs Union or accept free movement of labour and capital.