Although Brexit is not central to this election as it was in 2019, it does occasionally raise its head. Whilst the leaders’ debates have primarily focused on other issues, most of the political parties give a nod to Europe in their manifestos.
The problem is the UK political class seems focused on revisiting the debates of 2016: should we quickly rejoin the customs union or single market? Should we tweak the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to correct the mistakes we made in delivering a hard Brexit? In Scotland’s case there are some in independence-supporting parties who propose we painlessly return to full membership.
But all these perspectives fundamentally misunderstand the state of mind in Brussels and in European capitals. There is no burning