The big hole in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' plan to kickstart the economy: how to fix Brexit

Gone was the doom and gloom, as the Chancellor stressed the UK’s “fundamental strengths”, "huge potential" and Labour’s determination to free the country from the shackles of “low expectations and accepted decline”.

“We can do so much better. Low growth is not our destiny, but growth will not come without a fight, without a government willing to take the right decisions now to change our country's future for the better,” she said.

More than EU ‘reset’ required

The highlights of her speech included the government’s backing for a third runway at Heathrow Airport; revised rules on creating major infrastructure projects; news that Glasgow will be one of the first areas to receive “deeper more focused” investment from the National Wealth Fund; and a promise to create "Europe's Silicon Valley" between Oxford and Cambridge – which should prompt at least thoughts of reviving ‘Silicon Glen’ between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

All well and good. However, while there was a mention of “resetting our relationship with the EU” to help improve economic growth, Reeves still showed no signs of wanting a fundamental shift.

The most easily removed shackles holding back the UK economy are nothing as nebulous as “low expectations”. They are far more tangible: the obstacles to trade created by Boris Johnson’s ‘hard Brexit’ deal.

Admitting our mistake

In the 2016 referendum, people voted to leave the European Union. However, it was left to politicians to decide how to do this. They could have chosen to remain in the single market and the customs union, with an option to leave at a later date, but they chose to make the transition almost as sharp and painful as possible.

It is now time to admit this was a mistake. Doing so would involve a degree of humility, but are we seriously going to let pride get in the way of restoring the economy to good health? Rejoining the customs union would be a relatively simple step and the benefits would be immediate and very real.