Right-wing media watch: Daily Mail lines up veteran Brexiteers to sound the ‘Brejoin’ alarm

If Britain’s recent heatwave wasn’t enough to trigger a meltdown, renewed discussion about the country’s relationship with Europe certainly was.

Comments from Labour’s two main leadership hopefuls, Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham, about the long-term prospect of closer ties with the European Union prompted a familiar eruption across the right-wing press, with the Daily Mail assembling some of Brexit’s most vocal defenders to warn against any hint of a “Brejoin.”

Wes Streeting, who has indicated he would stand in the event of a leadership challenge to Keir Starmer, described Brexit as “a catastrophic mistake.”

“It’s left us less wealthy, less powerful and less in control than at any point before the industrial revolution,” he said, adding: “We ‌need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe, and one day, one day, back in the European Union.”

Andy Burnham also suggested there may be a case for rejoining the EU “in the long term,” although he attempted to distance himself from the immediate political row, insisting he was “not advocating that in this by-election.”

Though that was enough to trigger outrage in the Daily Mail, which responded with the headline:

‘Backlash over Brexit ‘betrayal’: Lord Gove blasts Streeting and Burnham as Kemi says ‘Labour clowns couldn’t negotiate with the EU.’

Central to the article were comments from Michael Gove, one of the main architects of Brexit, who positioned any future move towards EU membership as a democratic betrayal.

Writing in the Mail, Lord Gove argued: “The drive towards rejoining is not just acceleration into an economic cul-de-sac, it is also a betrayal of the democratic vote which politicians promised would be honoured and respected.

“After the agonies of the 2017-19 parliament when establishment voices tried to overturn the clear instruction from the people, it would only further undermine people’s belief that those who govern us respect our instincts.”

Kemi Badenoch struck a similar line, claiming any attempt to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU would be a “disaster” for the country.

“What we see before us is a timid and tired Labour Party, exhausted after less than two years in government,” she told the Mail, adding: “Does anyone believe these clowns can negotiate with the EU?”

She accused Labour of being afraid of “difficult decisions” and warned they would “give away power and money,” comparing any future EU negotiations to what she described as failed international agreements elsewhere.

Joining the line-up was Nigel Farage, who has promised to make the issue central to the Makerfield by-election campaign, where in the 2016 EU referendum, 66% of voters backed Brexit. Speaking to the Mail, he accused Burnham of saying “one thing to Labour voters” while positioning himself for future leadership ambitions.

“Reform will ensure the voters know exactly where Burnham stands on rejoining the EU,” said Farage.

A large majority of people in Makerfield may have voted for Brexit ten years ago, yet the political landscape has changed considerably since. Polling consistently shows younger voters overwhelmingly favour closer ties with Europe, while concerns about trade, economic growth and Britain’s international influence have reopened debates many Brexit supporters once claimed were settled permanently.

Not that the Mail would ever admit it. The fact the newspaper still feels the need to assemble the same familiar cast of Brexit-era hardliners, Gove, Badenoch and Farage, to warn of “betrayal” and “disaster,” says more than the article itself. A decade on from the referendum, the case for Brexit sounds like a tired record stuck on repeat.