A rebuttal to Open Britain — Vote Leave never promised to remain in the Single Market

As a Remainer who disliked a lot of Vote Leave misinformation, I have come to view misinformation as one of the worst possible things to happen during the referendum. And yet, it is continuing after the referendum — but also on the other side of things. I have begun to question statements made regarding the Single Market — Why, oh why, is it considered okay to falsify or intentionally misinterpret quotes from people just because they’re not on the same side as you?

There is a common theme regarding recent assertions about Vote Leave and their views on the Single Market, and the referendum result. It is the assumption that a vote to leave the EU was not a vote to leave the Single Market, as Vote Leave did not ever claim they wanted to leave, and allegedly “promised” we would not leave.

This claim is demonstrably false.

Let’s start by analysing the “quotes” that various sources cite as proving their inaccurate point, by using the Huffington Post’s very own article.

This Video Is Very Awkward Viewing For Brexiters Performing The Most Enormous U-Turn

“Absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the Single Market” — Daniel Hannan, MEP

Daniel Hannan has made it clear, on numerous occasions, that his position is to retain access to the Single Market, without actually being members. I recall this interview specifically well when he mentioned this, and clarified almost immediately afterwards that by place he didn’t mean “membership”, but rather that we would still have a role to play by engaging in economic activity. Admittedly, the word “place” here was probably badly used, but it’s amazing how easy it is to take things out of context to present a point that wasn’t actually being made.

“Only a madman would actually leave the market” — Owen Paterson MP, Vote Leave backer

Ah, yet another out-of-context quote. Notice the word “market” not being prefixed with “single” there. I’ve seen some occasions online where this quote has been deliberately modified to include the word single without the telling square brackets to make clear it’s a clarifier — which is disingenuous misinformation. In the interview, he was specifically talking about “leaving the market” as in rejecting all trade with members of the EU. Nobody — at all — was suggesting this be the case. The full interview can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhb-DLqelN8 and after the quote mentioned, he specifically says we will “carry on trading with the market” — not carry on trading AS MEMBERS of the market — and that we will come to a “trading arrangement”. This is only seconds after the quote is mentioned.

“Wouldn’t it be terrible if we were really like Norway and Switzerland? Really? They’re rich. They’re happy. They’re self-governing” — Nigel Farage, former UKIP leader

It makes me feel a little queasy to defend Mr. Farage, but it doesn’t need pointing out that Switzerland is not part of the European Economic Area so claiming that this is somehow an endorsement of remaining members of the single market is incredibly misleading. Switzerland is a member of the European Free Trade Association, which has free, individual trade agreements with members of the single market but are most assuredly not part of it, they merely “participate” (Switzerland has powers to control freedom of movement if it wishes, and does not have access to the EU’s banking sector for obvious reasons, so the EFTA is certainly not part of the “single market” with a set of common policies). The idea that having a free trade agreement is synonymous with single market membership is ludicrous — did people think TTIP was about the United States becoming a “member” of the single market? Surely not. Besides, even taking into account Norway, the context of this was about political sovereignty rather than him actually advocating the single market.

“The Norwegian option, the EEA option, I think that it might be initally attractive for some business people” — Matthew Elliot, Vote Leave chief executive

This is by far the most misleading quote that has been made here. Let’s actually watch the full video, and see for himself in what context that statement was made (8:30 onwards) — it was in examining the different options, not actually advocating anything:

“I think when it comes to the Norwegian option, the EEA option, I think that it might be initially attractive for some business people, but then again, for voters who are interested in and concerned about migration, in the EU, they’d be very concerned that it allows free movement of people to continue”. He then continues to discuss the complexity of the Swiss option, and then says “but, overall, I think when we, if there’s one takeaway from my remarks today, it is that business people recognise that the status quo within the EU is no longer an option”.

“Increasingly, the Norway option looks the best for the UK” — Arron Banks, Leave.EU founder

Not part of Vote Leave, the official campaign, so is it really anything to do with the campaign? It also wasn’t a “Promise we wouldn’t leave the Single Market”, it was one man’s opinion of what he thought was best.

Now, let’s look at everyone who promised that a vote to leave the EU was a vote to leave the Single Market:

So that’s:

1. The PM of the time explicitly stating it meant leaving the single market
2. The Chancellor of the Exchequer of the time as well
3. Boris Johnson, Vote Leave’s big heavyweight, confirming such
4. Michael Gove, another Vote Leave heavyweight, saying yes
5. Angela Leadsom, a slightly lesser known Vote Leave candidate who may have become Prime Minister also saying as such.

Hmm…

Now, the definition of the single market is hazy. Some people will probably take issue with my assertion that Switzerland isn’t in the single market (Considering the different trading arrangements between them and the EU, compared to between the EU, I’d certainly not say it’s a single market, and neither would many others). Regardless, I don’t see any actual Vote Leave campaigner who “promised” to remain members of the Single Market as Open Britain suggested.

My main point is this — if you want to combat misinformation from one group, the answer is not then to readily accept it from your own side. To do so is to violate the trust of your supporters — they believe your words are right and the “opponent” is the one making things up. To do so then yourself is to delegitimise yourself in the same way.