In defence of Rejoin

Your quote operates at a high level of generality. We need to get down to specifics. You didn't provide a link to the speech. Does Fazi specify how Ursula von der Leyen "made extraordinary efforts to align European countries with US interests, even against the will of individual European governments."? It is possible that he is referring to the US-EU trade deal of July 2025, which certainly drew sharp criticism from French Prime Minister François Bayrou and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, while other leaders accepted it as preferable to a trade war. That shows that von der Leyen pursued an outcome that some governments disliked, but what Fazi ignores is that the Commission negotiates trade deals under authority given by EU governments, and the Council and European Parliament have roles in approving them. It was not simply von der Leyen imposing US policy on national capitals. The Council is appointed by member states and the Parliament is directly elected. It is difficult to see how the minutiae of trade agreements could be submitted to a more democratic process. Fazi talks as though EU membership would prevent any left wing government from achieving its objectives. But EU membership would not prevent a future socialist government from nationalising utilities, or imposing a wealth tax, or investing in social housing or Green energy, or introducing a universal basic income. And Brexit, besides making the country poorer, greatly curtailed personal liberty. Before Brexit, a Brit could go and live and work anywhere in Europe without requiring permission from any state. This freedom of movement came to an end with Brexit. It was possibly the first time in history that a people had voted to restrict its own mobility - though I imagine that many of the voters thought it would only work one way, i.e. it would stop foreigners coming in, but Brits would have all the same rights as before! Personally, I am not a fan of borders; all borders are bloody affairs. Can Fazi point to a single concrete benefit from Brexit to the UK? My feeling is that in a world in which the US has shown itself very willing to use economic warfare to coerce countries into submission, Britain is much stronger as part of a vast trading bloc than it is alone, and would be better placed to pursue a foreign policy displeasing to the Yanks if the domestic will existed to do so.