The Brexiteers have lost the argument. That’s the lasting impression to be taken away from the screaming newspaper headlines that followed the Prime Minister’s announcement of a ‘reset’ deal with the EU this week
This coverage, which included nakedly sexist portrayals of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and repeated attempts to label Keir Starmer as a ball-choking gimp, are as clear a sign that the Leave argument has been lost, as it is possible to imagine.
That this is the case can be seen clearly in the polling. According to a new YouGov poll out today 66% of voters agree with the Prime Minister’s push for closer relations with the EU, compared to just 14% who disagree.
And with just 30% of voters in the same poll still saying they believe that Brexit was a good idea, the screams of “betrayal” from the British press were only ever going to ring hollow.
Also ringing hollow this week were the attempts by the Conservative party to oppose this deal.
Speaking in the House of Commons earlier, Kemi Badenoch visibly struggled to conjure up the required level of outrage against a deal which has already been warmly welcomed by most major business and industry groups.
Yet with public and business opinion now firmly behind forging closer relations with Europe, the attempts by Badenoch, Farage and the right-wing press to condemn this agreement have felt more than a little confected.
What was also telling about today’s exchanges in the Commons was how relaxed and comfortable the Prime Minister appeared in batting away Badenoch’s attacks.
This is a sign not just of how useless the Conservative party leader still is at these events, but also why this is so much stronger ground for the Prime Minister to be fighting on than his recent attempts to wrestle the mantle of anti-migrant populism from Nigel Farage.
In politics, perceived authenticity is hugely important and aside from being morally wrong and politically self-defeating, Starmer’s recent anti-migration rhetoric was also essentially just difficult to believe.
When you compare Starmer’s stilted performances last week on immigration to his assured performance today selling his deal with the EU, there is no contest.
If the Prime Minister wants to start turning around polls showing Reform storming ahead, he would be well advised to lean into his own strengths by deploying arguments on issues where voters already believe and agree with him, rather than pretending to be something he quite obviously is not.
I discussed all of this, along with the details of the deal itself, with the Director of the Independent Commission on UK-EU relations Mike Buckley, and my Byline colleague Adrian Goldberg, in a live video chat this afternoon, which you can watch in full in the video above.
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