George Osborne, the former chancellor who was forced to resign after the 2016 Brexit referendum, has delivered one of his most forceful interventions on the UK’s departure from the European Union, comparing the leave victory to England’s defeat at the Battle of Hastings. In a wide-ranging interview, he warned that the British economy has “fallen off a cliff” and argued that rejoining the EU Customs Union offers a practical route to recovery.
Speaking to Geordie Greig, editor-in-chief of The Independent, Osborne drew on his current role as chair of the British Museum to frame the national conversation around Brexit. The Bayeux Tapestry, which he has helped bring to London for the first time, tells the story of a pivotal moment in English history — and, he argued, it also carries a lesson about what comes next.
A Economy in Freefall
Osborne did not mince his words about the economic consequences of Brexit. He described the UK’s trading relationship with Europe as fundamentally damaged and said the country was poorer than it would have been had the referendum gone the other way. “Brexit has been a mess. Britain has basically gone off a cliff. It has had a huge impact on the British economy. It is clearly poorer than it would otherwise be,” he said.
The former chancellor also pointed to a “conspiracy of silence” among politicians, business figures, and union leaders, arguing that the reluctance to reopen the Brexit debate is holding back recovery. He suggested that many in positions of influence recognise the scale of the problem but lack the political courage to address it openly.
His analysis extends beyond trade. Osborne said that defence cooperation offers a further illustration of the short-sightedness of those who campaigned for leave in 2016. At the time of the referendum, prominent Brexiteers were deeply opposed to deeper military collaboration with European neighbours. That position was overturned following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which made clear that Britain’s security is inextricably linked to the continent — a connection the Bayeux Tapestry itself serves as a reminder of, he added.
The Tapestry and the Path Back
Drawing on his experience with the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, Osborne insisted that Brexit should not be treated as a final chapter. “A bit like the Bayeux Tapestry isn’t the end of the story, Brexit’s not the end of the story,” he said. “Because there’s a whole conversation of how to re-engage in the kind of issues that we’re never going to solve unless we’re working with our European neighbours. Like immigration, the economy, the regulation of new technologies.”
While acknowledging that full EU membership would be difficult to achieve in the near term, Osborne identified a more immediate solution. “I would rejoin the Customs Union. It’s a quite simple thing to do. That was never part of the Brexit debate. No one knew we were leaving it and it has had a devastating impact on trade.” He dismissed the original Brexiteer argument that leaving the Customs Union would pave the way for landmark trade agreements, particularly with the United States, describing those ambitions as looking “pretty fanciful now.”
Osborne also addressed the question of why rejoining the Customs Union is politically more feasible than returning to the single market. The key distinction, he explained, is that Customs Union membership does not require accepting the free movement of people — a message that would be far easier to sell to the British public.
A Warning to the Conservatives
Osborne did not hold back when discussing the state of the Tory Party under Kemi Badenoch. He challenged the leader’s repeated insistence that she would not strike an election pact with Nigel Farage, suggesting she would reconsider if it were the only route to power. He also accused the Conservatives of a futile attempt to “out-Reform Reform” through right-wing policies, arguing that such a strategy misunderstands what voters want.
“The Tory Party itself was weak, but it was better to have a strong leader and weak party than the reverse,” Osborne said. However, he expressed scepticism about the party’s path back to power. He questioned whose voters the Conservatives were pursuing and pointed to the party’s struggle to appeal to graduates, noting that a university education was once a reliable marker of Tory support but is now more likely to indicate Labour allegiance.
He also argued that the Conservatives and Labour had effectively “swapped their voters without realising” — a direct consequence of Brexit. “The Conservatives traded the middle class for the working class, and the Labour Party traded the working class for the middle class, and neither came to terms with it,” he explained.
Osborne urged Labour leader Andy Burnham to consider rejoining the Customs Union, even though Labour has committed to respecting its manifesto pledge not to rejoin the EU, the single market, or the Customs Union. He praised Burnham’s “Tiggerish bounce” as a contrast to what he characterised as the stagnation plaguing the Conservatives.
Coalition Pride Amid the Chaos
Perhaps surprisingly, Osborne said he is proud of the austerity measures he implemented as chancellor between 2010 and 2015, despite the controversy they continue to generate among leftwing critics. He argued that his coalition government with David Cameron is now viewed more favourably in comparison to the political turbulence that followed.
“I’m proud of being a partner to David Cameron forming a coalition government and offering Britain stable government for six years,” he said. “People now look back on that six years of government now and say ‘wow’… compared to everything that has happened since.” He pointed to the briefer, more chaotic administrations of Liz Truss and Sir Keir Starmer as evidence that stability should not be taken for granted.
Ten years on from the referendum that ended his and Lord Cameron’s political careers, Osborne remains adamant that the leave campaign was wrong — and that the story is far from over.
Why it Matters
Osborne’s intervention is significant not merely as a personal reassessment but because it comes from someone who bore direct political responsibility for the remain campaign and who now occupies one of the most prominent cultural roles in the country. His argument that the economic damage from Brexit is measurable and severe challenges the notion, still advanced by some, that the UK is thriving outside the EU’s regulatory framework. His call to rejoin the Customs Union — a step that does not require surrendering sovereignty over immigration policy — could reframe the debate, offering a middle ground that avoids the political pitfalls of full EU membership while still addressing trade barriers. With a general election on the horizon and both main parties struggling to define a compelling economic vision, Osborne’s diagnosis is likely to be cited well beyond the Westminster bubble for some time to come.
