They say time flies when you’re having fun. Yesterday marked the third anniversary of the completion of Brexit and although time seems to have flown by, no one was having a good time.
That’s because the unholy combination of a global pandemic, seemingly endless lockdowns, and then hellish war in Ukraine tends to turn the mind elsewhere. That’s obviously understandable – after all, over the last few years we’ve felt as if the gods had been playing with us, presenting an endless stream of bad news that varied from merely alarming to downright terrifying.
But as our friends in the UK mark the third anniversary of the biggest decision in their recent history, it seems there are a growing number of people who voted for Brexit and are now expressing serious signs of buyer regret. Can you blame them?
The report released this week by the IMF paints a very bleak picture of Britain’s economic health.
They will be the only major developed country to slide into an economic turnaround this year. They’re the only ones of the G7 that won’t see growth. They’re facing a recession that could make the legendary dark days of the 1970s look like a picnic.
According to the IMF report: “Britain is likely to suffer more than any other industrialized nation due to rising interest rates and high inflation.”
As icing on the cake, they warn that more industrial action and strikes, combined with falling household incomes and tight budgets, mean only one thing – a country sinking deeper and deeper into the quagmire.
It was never meant to be. The promise of Brexit was that once they regained full autonomy and escaped the shackles of the EU, they would make their own trade deals around the world. There was even talk of making London the financial center of the world.
Voters were promised that once Brexit was ratified, they could regain control of their own borders and appropriately restrict illegal immigration.
None of that happened. Where they were promised Brexit would take them to the sunlit Highlands, they now find themselves in a situation more akin to Mordor.
This is what happens when principles collide with reality.
It was an understandable principle, to be fair. The UK has always had a far more biased relationship with the EU than we do, for example.
While you may or may not agree with the idea that they deserve the right to forge their own path and retire from the club, the simple reality is that the decision has proven to be an absolute disaster.
Personally, I feel great sympathy for those who voted to leave the EU. They weren’t, as some of their critics claimed, a bunch of wide-eyed racists who just hated Johnny Foreigner.
They were people who wanted to preserve the very foundations of British independence and self-determination, and while many of us might not have agreed with that idea, it was perfectly legitimate.
In fact, some characterizations of Brexit voters are particularly popular in trendy, left-leaning city newspapers The guard, which portrayed them all as monsters, were downright shameful. These people had a dream – a dream of UK independence, sovereignty and proud national self-determination, free from European interference and the dictates of Brussels bureaucrats.
Well it seems the dream is over.
After all, the facts don’t care about feelings, and the facts are chilling – national productivity has fallen by 4 percent. Trade with their former EU partners has fallen off a cliff. In fact, it’s down by a fifth, which is a truly amazing statistic.
The much-vaunted trade deal with Australia, which has been hailed as a prime example of why Britain had to go it alone to achieve true prosperity, is now credited with a 0.1 per cent improvement in their GDP – hardly the magic bullet of the likes of Jacob Rees Mogg to quote with such smugness.
But putting aside the bleak economic picture that has been painted in recent weeks – a former Brexit supporter recently admitted: “The grim reality is that the country seems to be falling apart at the seams… even car production is having to fall to its lowest levels.” since the 1950s” – the social costs have to be borne there.
The bitterness and resentment revealed by the initial Brexit debates have not gone away. I have many English friends and family members who openly admit that they stopped speaking to certain people because they were on different sides of the fence.
Instead of healing these wounds over time, they seem to have become even more ingrained in their beliefs.
I have not seen such social division since Donald Trump’s wave of populism tore families and friendships apart.
The populism at the heart of Trump’s election was also reflected in the Brexit campaign. The similarity is that it was the elites who told the working class they had a chance to strike back… at the elites.
Perhaps popular for his wit and unorthodox style, Boris Johnson, who once wrote two wildly conflicting columns on leaving the EU before choosing sides, was the man who, as he likes to boast, was the man who Brexit pulled through”.
However, when he was defenestrated and exiled by his own party, he simply turned to the after-dinner circuit and his speeches have already netted him well over a million pounds. He doesn’t have to worry about the choice between heating or eating like so many Brexit voters do.
It saddens me to say this, but the facts are undeniable – our friends across the water have been sold a puppy and they have a long, hard road ahead of them.
https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/it-saddens-me-to-say-it-but-even-brexiteers-must-now-admit-theyve-been-sold-a-pup-42322071.html It saddens me to say this but even Brexiteers now have to admit they have been sold a puppy
