'Prof Carsten Welsch, a physicist at the University of Liverpool who lost leadership of a £2.6m research project on a novel plasma generator that could be used in cancer treatment when the UK lost membership, said it would be “absolutely fantastic news” to return to Horizon Europe.
“It would be a gigantic relief. It would mean that the politicians would have thankfully listened to the scientists and what changed was that they saw over the entire period we have been out is that we need to collaborate internationally,” he said.'
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‘A huge relief’: scientists react to hopes of UK rejoining EU Horizon scheme, July 6, 2023
'..Britons who want to rejoin the EU has climbed to its highest levels since 2016..''Seven years after the Brexit referendum, the proportion of Britons who want to rejoin the EU has climbed to its highest levels since 2016, according to a new survey.
Both Britons and Europeans are also a lot less likely to think other countries would follow the Brexit example, and Britons are more optimistic about the bloc’s future – to the extent of trusting the European Commission more than their own government.
Data from YouGov’s latest Brexit tracker survey found that, excluding those who said they would not vote or did not know, 58.2% of people in Britain would now vote to rejoin.
The percentage is only fractionally down on the 60% recorded in February this year – the highest figure since comparable data began in February 2012 – and has risen more or less consistently since a post-referendum low of 47% in early 2021.'
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Britons who want to rejoin EU at highest levels since 2016, survey finds, June 23, 2023
'[EFTA] .. Given all the political complications around rejoining the EU, a halfway step might be more appealing.''O’Driscoll notes that Ireland would be one of several EU countries very eager to have the UK back in the fold. “Ireland’s economy is based on being open, and on that the UK was an ally. We’re now seeing a slight tick away from that in the EU’s trade policy as they respond to the US Inflation Reduction Act. As a smaller member state, we used to rely on the UK [to fight the free-trade battle], but now we see the EU’s response to the [Inflation Act] being driven by France. We’re starting to see the loss of that sensible voice in the room.” Ireland would obviously also be keen for the UK to rejoin because it would solve the Northern Ireland problem overnight.
But Salamone says that for both the pro-UK and UK-sceptic countries, they would need to be sure the UK was in it for the long haul.
“On the one hand, people in the EU bubble would be content with the idea of a redemption story, with the UK having left the EU, realising it didn’t work out and rejoining,” he says. “But in practical terms I can’t imagine key EU decision makers would want the UK to rejoin the EU before there was a substantial lasting change in British public opinion. You don’t want to start rejoining negotiations and then have a new government end them. There would have to be cross-party consensus.” The current 65% approval for rejoining wouldn’t be enough.
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That is something the British public may have not yet fully grasped. “These opinion polls showing more British people want the UK to rejoin – what’s that decision based on?” asks O’ Driscoll. “Is it based on going back to the way it was before without the euro and without being in Schengen?” That, he says, isn’t going to happen. And support for the idea of rejoining may well fall once people understand that it would mean a commitment to join the euro.
Given all the political complications around rejoining the EU, a halfway step might be more appealing. So far, Starmer has said only that he wants to get closer to the EU single market, without explaining what he means. Many think he will elaborate only after an election, and that he may advocate creating a Switzerland-style relationship with the EU.
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But Smith disagrees. “The UK would be by far the largest country, larger than all the others combined. But I think the members would be OK with the idea as long as the UK is committed to [domestic] cross-party consensus on joining. They would have to have confidence that the UK wouldn’t leave if another government got in, or that they’re not using Efta as a stepping stone to then join the EU. But there’s no reason why they wouldn’t see it as the UK strengthening Efta’s bargaining weight. And for the EU countries, it would be a way to keep the UK close but without being in the decision-making process and getting in the way of further political integration like we used to.” '
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Source, January 31, 2023
'..Brexit was based on a lie..''A survey
this week by Redfield & Wilton Strategies has found 61% would vote to rejoin the EU. If you include the 'don't knows', there's still a healthy 56% majority. More than half of people polled want a referendum in the next five years. While some on both sides who've changed their minds, more of those who voted to Leave have switched to Rejoin.
But perhaps the most telling fact is this, from a poll for More in Common and reported by Politico: only 22% of people who voted Tory in 2019 want to rejoin, but the figure is 82% among those who backed Labour. Throw in a few million under-24s who didn't get a vote last time, and it becomes politically vital we go back to the EU and ask them to try again.
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In fact the only way to truly smash the people trafficker's' business model is to have a returns agreement with France - like the one we had before Brexit, and which the Tories can't ask for because it would show that Brexit was based on a lie. We had more control over our borders as a member of the EU than we do outside it.'
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'Whisper it - but Britain might be about to rejoin the EU,' March 17, 2023
ContextMore Brits Wanted To Rejoin EU This Year Than At Any Point Since The Referendum, June 23, 2023
(Project C - Phase II 2022 - 2032) - Eye Opener, To Heal in The Electric Universe