Seven years have passed since Britain voted to leave the European Union, in a referendum that split the nation - and we asked Mirror readers if they think the move has been a success.
The historic result saw a 52 percent majority for the Leave camp, with almost three-quarters of the electorate making their decision known. On January 31, 2020, the UK officially ceased to be a member of the bloc after 47 years of alliance, despite still being subject to some EU laws.
Nigel Farage, leave advocate and former UKIP leader, has recently admitted that “Brexit has failed” and said that the “Tories have let us down very, very badly.”
The politician described how the Conservatives have been unsuccessful in taking advantage of the opportunities presented from Brexit, and said the UK hasn’t “benefited economically” from the result.
We asked Mirror readers if they think Brexit has been a success, and 86 percent of readers said “No”. Around 7,360 people voted in our poll, and a hefty 6,301 users selected the option ‘No, it has failed’.
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Respondents voiced their opinions in the comments section, as one reader wrote: “Without a shred of doubt, leaving the European Union has exposed the brainlessness, the utter emptiness and the cluelessness of UK leaders and politicians - especially the corrupt, confused and the much-despised Tory politicians. Yes, Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster in all its ramifications.”
Another shared: “It's been an outstanding ‘FAILURE’ and has cost this nation dearly and BORIS lied to us about open trade deals, saving billions of pounds not having to be paid to EUROPE and the billions saved could be spent on the NHS blazoned on the side of that big red bus and BO-ZO'S oven ready Brexit was over cooked and only fit for the bin.”
“It has been a miserable failure and it's only going to get worse, but what else would you expect with Boris the prize clown and shame of the nation at the wheel! It will continue to cost the country dearly,” penned a third, while a fourth wrote: “Brexit has been a catastrophic experiment on Britain: committing self-harm on a grand scale.”
A fifth added: “Only people to blame for Brexit failing is the Tories, all they do is cause failure, I'd love to see any of these rich MP's lie how most of us do. I voted leave and I'm not happy with how the current government handled Brexit cos its not even been implemented, time we got a 3rd party in power cos labour will be probably worse than the Tories.”
Meanwhile, 10 percent of voters selected the option “Yes, it has” been a success, with 728 people showing support for Brexit in our poll. Taking to the comments one reader wrote: “It will work out”.
Another shared: “I am happy with BREXIT. I holiday twice a year in Italy, and once a year in France and it has not affected me in the slightest ,I love Europe but I hate the E.U. that is the difference.”
We also gave people the option to select “It’s too soon to say”, which received just four percent of votes. In the comments, one voter shared: “Once Brexit actually starts and it is actioned through by competent people to the end then this country will thrive. At present we are entangled up in the poisonous tentacles of the arrogant, ignorant, bullying, spiteful, corrupt and very childish EU mob and I'm so glad we are out.”
“I never thought for a moment it would be easy leaving the EU, but the pandemic and the war in Ukraine has made leaving even harder. Has leaving the EU been a success, not so far, but that doesn’t mean it won’t in the long run,” posted another.
A third echoed: “Too soon to say. Change takes time,” as a fourth wrote: “The answer is not yet.”
“In a couple of hundreds of million years, the UK will have drifted so far away from the European continent, we will forget we were ever part of it! Just be a little patient,” added another.
Only one percent of voters chose the option ‘I don’t know’.
Do YOU agree with the poll results? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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