• United Kingdom Sunak appoints a minister who voted against Brexit as president of the 'Tories'

Members of the Conservative government and deputies from the Labor opposition held a secret meeting last Thursday to analyze the Brexit rulings, according to 'The Observer'.

In the unusual meeting of supporters and detractors of leaving the EU, the conclusion was reached that Brexit, in its current form,

is harming the British economy

and the possibility of a closer relationship with Brussels in terms of security, immigration and defense and even a common policy to deal with China.

Brexit

is costing the British economy the equivalent of 100 billion pounds

a year (112 billion euros), according to a recent Bloomberg estimate.

According to calculations by the Office for Budget Responsibility itself, leaving the EU may have contributed to a 4% reduction in GDP in the next 15 years.

The unusual meeting held in Ditchley Park marks the first formal rapprochement between the

Rishi Sunak

government and members of the 'shadow government' of Labor

Keir Starmer

, a supporter on his day of permanence, who has however assured that he does not plan to return to the EU or re-entry into the single market if he becomes prime minister.

British public opinion has, however, experienced a sharp turn after the economic problems that are shaking the country,

the only one in the G7 that will have negative growth in 2023

, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Three years after the end of the transition period, 54% of Britons think leaving the EU was the "wrong" decision, compared to 34% who think it was the "right" decision, according to an analysis by Statista.

45% admit that Brexit is working "worse than expected"

, according to another Ipsos poll.

In the secret meeting of Conservatives and Labor held on Thursday and Friday - and in which diplomats, bankers and businessmen also participated - attendees were asked to participate in a "private debate" to answer the following question: "How can

we do to make Brexit work better with our neighbors in Europe?"

On behalf of the Government ,

Michael Gove

, current Minister of Economic Equalization and an ally of

Boris Johnson

in the Vote Leave campaign, attended.

Former Labor leader

Michael Howard

and former Treasury Secretary

Norman Lamont

also participated in the meeting.

Former Secretary of State for Europe and Remain supporter

David Lidington

was also invited.

David Lammy

, Labour's foreign spokesman, was the most prominent member of the opposition, along with former European Commissioner

Lord Peter Mandelson

, John Healy MP

and Gisela Stuart,

a former Brexit supporter.

Oliver Robbins

, former Brexit negotiator-chief and now at Goldman Sachs;

John Symonds

, CEO of pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, and defense expert

Angus Lapsley

were other attendees.

According to the documents about the meeting leaked to 'The Observer', the starting point was how the United Kingdom has not found a way to move forward after leaving the EU and how Brexit is actually serving to retain economic growth and diminish the potential of the country.

Among those gathered there was apparently a consensus on the need to

"face the failures of Brexit and remedy them in the national interest"

.

The need to resolve the question of the

Irish Protocol

as soon as possible was a priority issue at the meeting, among accusations launched from outside by the former 'premier' John Major to his co-religionist Boris Johnson, for having signed the Brexit agreement at the time knowing that he was going to create serious problems in Belfast.

The attendees agreed on the need for urgent action in the face of the growing social and economic unrest and problems such as inflation (above the European average), supply chain problems and the lack of work (largely caused by the end of the to freedom of movement).

In general

, an agreement was reached on the need for closer ties with the EU

to tackle illegal immigration, combat organized crime and reach defense agreements.

One of the questions that attendees had to answer was this: "What is the prospect of a fully UK/EU policy towards China?"

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Ministry of Defence

  • China

  • Europe

  • United Kingdom

  • European Union

  • Ireland

  • Boris Johnson

  • GDP

  • IMF

  • Brexit