Britain’s becalmed economy is bringing down yet another hapless government. Just witness the travails of Rachel Reeves, the nation’s first ever female chancellor of the Exchequer, who in recent weeks told the world that she would break a promise by raising taxes and then reversed it in the face of government estimates that the economy was even weaker than thought.
It’s painfully depressing. What’s most annoying is that the obvious response seems out of the question: Britain needs a big and ambitious free trade deal with the European Union.
There’s a reason that’s not going to happen. The country spent three decades tearing itself apart in a debate over whether to stay in the EU, voted narrowly to leave in 2016 and then indulged in even greater political bloodletting before thrashing out extremely disadvantageous terms on which to exit four years later. The most popular politician at present, according to polls, is the man who did more than anyone to make Brexit happen — Nigel Farage, who leads what is now called Reform U.K. Nobody on either side of the divide wants to reopen wounds that haven’t even started to heal.