Earlier quoted context omitted.
I want to have my cake and eat it, too! From my outsider’s perspective, the EU’s justification is far stronger than a “cautionary tale”: a Union means a Union. No other country or state structure in the world allows its constituent members to carve out only the bits that they themselves like; that would subvert the entire point of the Union.
> No other country or state structure in the world allows its constituent members to carve out only the bits that they themselves like The EU more or less does exactly that with Norway, a non-EU country with common market access and freedom of movement etc. That was the model I recall being promoted for a UK/EU relationship. They never intended to leave the common market or eschew all regulatory commonality.
They refused, because that would effectively mean they still have to follow all the same rules, but now without any say in how they're decided.
But turns out you can't just demand all the benefits of a club without following any of the obligations and now the UK is where it is.
People were being sold a lie and they believed it. The optimum relationship with the EU was always the one they already had, membership with a few extra carve-outs.