Brexit anniversary finds UK voters more regretful and politics more unstable
A decade after the EU referendum, polls and analysts point to economic damage, voter regret and a harsher debate over migration in Britain.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Britain marked 10 years since its vote to leave the European Union with public opinion running sharply against the decision and the country preparing for its seventh prime minister in a decade. Al Jazeera reported that Keir Starmer’s resignation has deepened a period of political instability that began with David Cameron’s departure after the 2016 referendum.
A YouGov survey conducted this month for the anniversary found that 30 percent of Britons now say leaving the EU was the right decision, compared with 64 percent at the time of the June 23, 2016 vote, according to Al Jazeera. The same poll found 57 percent now say the decision was wrong, while six in 10 view Brexit as a failure.
The economic case is also under pressure. Al Jazeera cited a recent Bank of England analysis indicating that Britain’s economy is 6 percent smaller because of the effects of leaving the EU.
Migration debate hardened after the vote
Al Jazeera reported that the legacy of Brexit extends beyond trade and growth, arguing that the referendum helped shift Britain’s public debate over immigration, national identity and belonging. During the campaign, questions about EU membership became closely tied to arguments over border control, sovereignty and regulation.
Tahir Abbas, director of the Centre on Radicalisation, Inclusion and Social Equity at Aston University, told Al Jazeera that Brexit grew out of long-running euroscepticism inside the Conservative Party. He said the campaign also mobilised Islamophobia, citing Nigel Farage’s 2016 poster showing people of colour moving across Europe.
Al Jazeera reported that language once associated with the political fringe has become more common in mainstream debate, including claims that Britain is being “invaded” and that asylum is abused. Successive governments have pursued tougher immigration policies, including offshore processing, third-country deportation plans and threats to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, the outlet reported.
The Conservative slogan “Stop the Boats” has also been adopted by far-right figures including Tommy Robinson, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that Robinson led a London march in September where crowds chanted, “Enough is enough. … Stop the invasion.”
Violence and online campaigns
Al Jazeera linked the broader political climate to several episodes of violence and intimidation. A week before the 2016 referendum, Thomas Mair killed Labour MP Jo Cox in northern England while shouting “Britain first” and “This is for Britain,” the outlet reported.
In Belfast this month, Al Jazeera reported, anti-immigrant unrest followed a knife attack by a Sudanese national. Masked groups burned homes, businesses and vehicles and sought out properties occupied by immigrants, according to the report.
Volunteer monitors had warned the Police Service of Northern Ireland for eight months before the unrest about an anti-immigration “hit list” that included addresses later targeted, Al Jazeera reported. Nichola Khan, an anthropologist and migration expert at the University of Edinburgh, told the outlet that Brexit did not create all far-right politics in Britain but worsened a resurgence of hateful nationalism.
Amil Khan, head of the disinformation research organisation Valent, told Al Jazeera that the Leave campaign’s victory encouraged a new generation of political strategists who used technology and data to bypass traditional media and community networks. He said bot farms and other services have expanded and warned that advances in artificial intelligence could intensify disinformation campaigns.
Al Jazeera reported that Britain’s continuing economic problems are likely to keep questions about its relationship with the EU on the political agenda. The outlet said those debates are unfolding while immigration and sovereignty remain divisive and Reform UK, led by Farage, is positioned to attack closer alignment with the EU as a betrayal.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.