Shorouk Express
Fewer than half of those who voted for Brexit can point to a positive outcome in any area, and just 8 per cent say that it has had a positive effect on them, according to a new poll.
On the five-year anniversary of Brexit, a new YouGov survey asked Britons what they thought the impact of Brexit has been.
The UK officially left the EU at 11pm on 31 January 2020, after three-and-a-half years of political wrangling that followed the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The YouGov poll found 31 per cent of the public believed that leaving the EU has been beneficial for “the control that the UK has over its own laws”. A further 21 per cent of people suggested Brexit has had a negative impact on British sovereignty.
Just over two thirds of the public (67 per cent) said Brexit has been detrimental to the cost of living, according to the poll. A further 65 per cent say it has had a negative effect on the economy, and 64 per cent think it has been bad for British businesses.
Notably, fewer than half of those who voted to exit the European Union in 2016 can point to a positive outcome in any area.
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Only 23 per cent of Leave voters think Brexit has resulted in improved levels of UK international trade, the poll found. This was a key benefit touted by Leave campaigners during the referendum.
Leave voters are most dissatisfied with the outcome Brexit has had on immigration levels, with 50 per cent saying it has had a negative impact.
Most Leave voters say they haven’t felt any personal impact from Brexit (57 per cent), with most of the remainder evenly split between the 17 per cent who have felt a positive impact and the 19 per cent who feel negatively affected.
The poll also found more than half of the public (52 per cent) think that Brexit has been bad for the NHS.
When it comes to the impact that Britons have felt from Brexit personally, just 8 per cent say that it has had a positive effect on them. Almost half (45 per cent) say that Britain leaving the EU has had a negative impact on them, while 38 per cent say they haven’t felt any impact either way.
Labour and Lib Dem voters were more likely to take a negative view of Brexit than their Conservative and Reform UK counterparts, according to the study.
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The five-year Brexit anniversary has been celebrated by the Conservatives, with shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel saying it marked five years since her party “honoured the democratic will of the British people and got Brexit done”.
Nigel Farage, one of Brexit’s top cheerleaders, told his GB News show on Thursday: “I still 100 per cent believe it was the right thing to do.”
Mr Farage admitted he was “disappointed in the way it’s been delivered”.
Since coming to power, Labour has sought a “reset” in relations with the EU, but has consistently ruled out a return to either the customs union or the single market.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey used the fifth anniversary of Brexit to criticise the Conservative deal as “an utter disaster for our country” that had resulted in “farmers, fishers and small businesses” being “caught up in red tape”.
