The EU’s vaccine response has not made the case for Brexit

The EU’s vaccine response has not made the case for Brexit

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It's been a tough couple of months for lovers of the EU. The bloc is on a losing streak. It was slow to order vaccines, slow to approve them and quick to blame a producer, AstraZeneca, when supplies were delayed.

Brussels jeopardised goodwill in Northern Ireland by briefly planning to invoke the Brexit deal emergency protocol. It agreed an investment treaty with China, despite the horrors of Xinjiang. It hasn't punished Russia for poisoning and imprisoning Alexei Navalny.

Where does this leave the millions of pro-EU Britons? Those who, in 2019, waved EU flags at the Last Night of the Proms and carried placards such as "Fromage Not Farage“ on marches? Must they accept that Britain, with its faster vaccine rollout, will do fine on its own?

Pro-EU fervour is a recent phenomenon in the UK. For decades, few mainstream politicians wanted to be MEPs, few children studied European languages and no one followed German politics.

Divorce made British hearts grow fonder. Outlets like The New European newspaper and Led by Donkeys campaign group emerged after the 2016 Brexit vote. Being pro-EU became a sign of liberal identity. It was also easy. You could put