- New ECFR [European Council on Foreign Relations] polling shows British voters see Brexit as a disaster. They are strikingly open to reintegration with the EU. Three quarters want a closer relationship.
- They see that as key to improvements on the economy, security and migration. Old red lines are falling away, with a majority open to freedom of movement and even a European nuclear deterrent.
- Brits much prefer EU states and even the EU itself over the US, sentiments that are reciprocated within the union.
- Leaving the 2016 politics of “leavers” and “remainers” far behind, they are now split into “Optimists” (for confident reintegration), “Realists” (for negotiated closer relations) and “Loners” (for continued distance).
- Politicians must build a broad consensus on UK-EU relations reflecting the Britain of 2026 rather than that of 2016.
…
The Brexit divide may have represented an earthquake in British politics a decade ago, and even a useful category in the 2017 and 2019 general elections, but with each passing year it is becoming less relevant as new experiences and debates reconfigure an electorate that is itself evolving over time. Talk of “leavers” and “remainers” is on the way to resembling that of Roundheads and Cavaliers in the English Civil War, or of supporters and opponents of the 19th-century Corn Laws; the relic of a long-past historical clash rather than a guide to future political behaviour.
…
British voters of all political hues have left the old leaver-remainer rift behind. They may well be divided on many other things, as the country’s party-political fragmentation suggests, but on the future of UK-EU relations there is a lot of common ground. Therein lies a chance to leave the old polarisation of the 2016 era behind. The referendum ten years ago sometimes seemed to turn colleagues, families, even places against themselves and each other (the BBC’s flagship documentary on the anniversary is called “Brexit: A Very British Civil War”). Today’s picture is actually more promising: more pro-European, yes, but also a more nuanced patchwork of opinion with a lot of common ground concerning the threats facing the country.
…
Sucks to be stupid.
Oh so racism and xenophobia didnt pan out to be better than working with more groups and neighboring countries? Im so shocked. Shocked i say.
I’m not convinced that what voters want actually matters🤷
As an addition:
Ten years on, Brexit’s economic impact is becoming clearer
… The UK Trade Policy Observatory at Sussex University calculated a rapid 26% reduction in the different types of UK exports by 2023, while a new study from Aston University Business School using five years of more detailed trade data concludes a loss of 53.8% of the type of exports and 31.5% for imports …
UK trade with Europe had been on an upward trend before 2016. But official figures show that compared to 2019, 2025 UK exports to the EU were 14% down and imports were down 10%.
And they’ve been getting worse. Last year, 2025, was the worst year for UK goods export volumes to the EU this century, apart from one year in the depths of the financial crisis …
Think tank Niesr calculates exports were 16.9% lower and imports 16.1% less than what could have been expected based on positive pre-2016 trends. The Centre for European Reform uses a different method, trying to take account of what could have happened if the UK had not been excluded from a more recent surge in intra-EU trade, leading to a goods trade hit of 16% to exports and 14% to imports …
One area that has performed more strongly since 2016 is services … Services sector exports from the UK to the EU are up 57% over the last decade [but] it is also true that there has been a service boom across the advanced world and some argue Britain might have done even better without Brexit …
Investment by businesses was significantly lower than what might have continued after Brexit, according to two studies. Former Bank of England independent economist Jonathan Haskel calculates a £29bn or 1.3% reduction in the size of the economy from lower investment than would have been expected since 2016 …
Business investment flattened in real terms immediately after 2016, and notably underperformed various measures of UK long term-trends and comparisons with other countries …
The most visible sign of economic shock was the fall in the value of the pound in the minutes and then years after the referendum. This makes imports and travel more expensive, and makes UK assets worth less in the world …
They can come closer sure, but the EU won’t let them reintegrate… at least for the next 2 decades.
I have a feeling there’s going to be two non-starters which the EU will make non-negotiable: conversion to the Euro and freedom of movement (a.la. Schengen Zone).
I would hope if the UK wants it bad enough, they’ll understand the need to integrate, but I have a feeling there’s a large group of rejoiners who are thinking “it’ll go back to the way it was, sweetheart deals and all!”
LOL.
Imagine working with a bunch of people, some are great, others less so, but there’s this one guy that just relentlessly complains.
Complains about everyone else, complains about the work, complains about the money, but mostly complains that theyre treated as an equal when everyone should treat them like the CEO.
You know the rest of the story.
I think you should still leave the possibility open for that guy to return, but under some strict conditions which he’ll only accept if he sees the rest of us as equals. Adopting the euro should be a good start.
So at work sometimes a stupid and preventable problem will happen. We’ll fix the immediate problems, and have a “retrospective” where we’re supposed to talk about what went wrong, why it went wrong, and how to avoid it.
That is almost always a farce. People never learn anything and nothing substantial changes. The idiots on the team remain, and don’t change. Often, a big factor is management are stupid and make bad decisions.
This feels kind of like that.
The people who pushed for brexit need to no longer be allowed to play a part. They’re demonstrably stupid or malicious
British voters are mostly stupid and don’t understand that Covid happened at the same time as Brexit. So they believe that all the bad effects from Covid are due to Brexit. Completely ignoring that other countries like France and Germany struggle in very much the same ways.
Here’s some free advice to avoid further embarrassment: Maybe don’t call other people idiots without having any understanding of what’s going on around you.
Do YOU have an understanding of what’s going on in the EU these days? How Ursula von der Leyen shielded off her floor? Have you checked the projected GDP growth of the UK vs. European countries recently? I’d say the UK is pretty well off without the EU. And they have the freedom to shape their own laws - all by themselves.
We don’t have any ability to influence how our laws are shaped here. The petition system is a joke, MPs ignore their constituents and we can’t choose our PM. Its a constant garbage fire of a government. Honestly you’re being a dick, get off your high horse
And rejoining the EU would help with that in what way?
lemmy.ml moment