The Left Case for Brexit: Active government for an independent UK

by Philip Whyman

Two years on from the vote for Brexit, the process of withdrawal remains mired in debate about the kind of relationship an independent UK should be seeking with the European Union and the wider world. With the date for departure moving ever closer, there is a desperate need for a clear vision of what a post-Brexit Britain should look like and be trying to achieve. In this pamphlet the economist Professor Philip B. Whyman warns that anxiety about the challenges Brexit may bring is leading too many people - particularly on the Left - to overlook the opportunities it offers to move on from the economic failings of recent decades. Brexit can, and should, provide a wider range of levers to develop a stronger and more balanced economy that ensures that no areas are left behind. This economic transformation must involve tackling the UK's chronic trade deficit, lagging productivity, low levels of investment and labour market weaknesses through more active government and a reinvigorated industrial policy. These objectives will be easier to achieve with greater freedom in areas like state aid and public procurement, and with more scope to control the labour supply and volatile capital flows. Here Professor Whyman sets out how Brexit can be a positive event for the Left, which delivers for all communities across the UK, workers as well as businesses, the countryside as well as urban areas, the north as well as the south. But to make it so - to secure a `progressive Brexit' that can deal with the profound economic challenges the country faces - requires the right kind of future relationship with the EU. This must seek to minimise the costs of trade with the EU to the greatest extent possible while - crucially - securing the freedom to build a new economy that delivers for the many not the few.

Genres: Politics

124 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2018

Reviews

[Ricky Bevins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's title is obviously seductive for members of the left in a post-Brexit malaise and those looking for optimism and inspiration.

Unfortunately, this book makes for a frustrating read. On a literary level, the text is littered with typos and unnecessary conjunctives and articles (often confused too - e.g. swapping on/of and in/if/it). Occasionally, entire sentences dissolve into grammatical and semantic nonsense. My favourite example is at the top of page 83:

"Their significance has been further magnified because other organisations [...] preferred to use their calculations were subsequently used as the basis for later reports produced by the rather than their producing their own independent analysis."

No, you didn't just have a stroke. How did this survive proofreading? Similarly, repetitive conclusions evoke memories of bad A-level essays. At points, the structure and writing style of the text feels suffocatingly academic, and not the good kind. Strange, since the 100-page book describes itself as a "pamphlet".

More importantly, however, there are issues with the main argument.

Firstly, Philip B. Whyman's analysis of the structural weaknesses of the UK economy is imprecise and far, far too soft. The are two elephants in the room that Philip only dances around, describing the symptoms but never the root cause of a lot of our economic ailments. Those two words are "Financialisation" and "Neoliberalism". Philip only sparingly eludes to the excessive power of capital over labour, preferring to use general and impregnable terms like "unbalanced economy". The large trade deficit, weak productivity growth, stagnant wages, low capital investment, a weak labour market etc are all direct consequences of finance capitalism and Neoliberalism. I am so grateful that I've recently read Grace Blakeley's "Stolen" and "The Corona Crash", which really do provide the searing and insistent deconstruction of the UK economy that the left needs right now. Very accessible too, recommend to everyone.

Secondly, he similarly avoids an in-depth deconstruction of the EU itself. I understand that he meant for this book to cut through the Brexit noise and focus on the choices, nuances and opportunities facing the British negotiating team and policy makers now. But considering how many on the Left voted Remain, it seems strange to not try to convince readers that the EU has become the regressive, undemocratic goliath that it has. There were plenty of arguments missing here that could have pulled on the heartstrings of leftists. I imagine many remainers will read this and stay unconvinced that leaving the EU is worth it. Read Costas Lapavitsas' "The Left Case Against the EU" for this sort of indictment.

Thirdly, and most detrimental to the main argument, the author utterly fails to engage with criticism of the Tory government or even assess the likelihood that the same party that imposed the ideologically-driven hellscape of austerity on the British public for a decade will suddenly become economically progressive and somehow non-neoliberal. I'm not kidding - there is almost zero assessment of the government's contemporary policies or their ability to provide the type of economic reform Philip is calling for.
The reason Brexit will be a disaster isn't because leaving the EU is inherently a bad idea. The reason Brexit will be a disaster is because the most maliciously incompetent and self-serving government in British history is at the helm. What Philip wants out of Brexit and what our current government has demonstrated that they are willing to deliver to the British people are completely at odds. Philip wants the type of economic reform that is really only ideologically compatible with the likes of Jeremy Corbyn. In reality, we're going to get a Tory Brexit, and all that entails.

I think Philip attempted an apolitical analysis because he wanted to appeal to both Leavers and Remainers, but also because he believed there was a chance negotiators, policy-makers, advisors etc may read this and he wanted to avoid alienating or chastising Tories and friends. Which makes some sense until you remember the title of the book is "The Left Case for Brexit".

In defence of the author, I must consistently remind myself that this was published in 2018, before Theresa May's resignation, before the devastating 2019 election for Labour, before Corbyn's resignation, before Bojo, before Covid, before the eventual Brexit agreement in the final dark days of 2020.

So what does Philip B. Whyman get right?

For the average layman wanting to actually gain an informed understanding of the different kind of Brexits available to us, this book delivers... from Chapter 3 onwards.
Mr. Whyman does a good job at illuminating the economic nuances and differences between terms like "Customs Union", "Customs Partnership" and "Free Trade Agreement" and all they entail. As someone that was always intimidated by such trade and Brexit jargon, this book really helped me. I genuinely feel like I have a much more confident grasp on what leaving the EU actually means for the UK, economically and politically. I can see myself referring back to this book to brush up on such terminology in thr future.

What we have here is a limp analysis of the UK economy and an entirely absent assessment of the incumbent government's success and likelihood of implementing a Brexit that the author calls for. But considering the British media's failure to elucidate Brexit in digestible terms for the public, and considering this book's length, I'd recommend the second half to mostly everyone.

Almost a 2, but feels a little closer to 3/5.

[Damian Dempsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

By "left wing Brexit", it advances some practical (and fairly modest) Keynesian ideas for promoting an economy that distributes opportunity and wealth in a more equitable fashion than current arrangements. It outlines what barriers would exist to the realization of such objectives under various forms of relationship with the EU. Well worth a read for understanding the basic forms of Brexit that are theoretically available and what scope there is for policy development.