The dream of the masses - the majority of Brits want to once again be a part of the land of the free…

William Pells

Introduction

… but of course, that is now the European Union. Nine years after the biggest act of national self-harm in British history, the majority of Brits would like a return to the EU, somewhat with our cap in hand. When asked by YouGov (a national polling service in the United Kingdom) whether leaving was a mistake, 55% responded that Britain was “wrong to leave”, with only 30% saying that we were “right to leave”. This poll has 15% hanging in the balance with no record of any preference.

If you are already caught up with the mood within Britain (which generally isn’t great), you may ask, “Why write this article now? The majority of Brits have been in favour of a ‘Breturn’ for a few years now.” You would be right. But the reason to bring this up is that the UK has lost more in economic growth since leaving the Union than it ever spent on membership combined!

The Referendum and Campaign

To just make this clear how stupid this is, David Cameron, the then Prime Minister, held the referendum to silence the Eurosceptic portions of the Conservative Party and UKIP over the issue by sailing to an easy democratic mandate to remain; that was the plan. UKIP was Eurosceptic as it saw the EU as “removing sovereignty from the UK” (at least that was their official line), whereas the Eurosceptic portions of the Conservative Party, of course, had the same concerns but also sprinkled them with worries over the cost of membership: £350,000,000 a year. During the referendum, UKIP tried to sell the “loss of sovereignty” story, which did have some success but didn’t appeal to the masses. So the Leave campaign jumped on the “Public tax money is being wasted by it being sent to Brussels, of which we never see again,” ignoring the fact that we did see most of that back through EU schemes, subsidies for farmers, and so on — not even mentioning that this, of course, included access to the EEA.

So the Leave Campaign coalition, led by future PM Boris Johnson, who actually didn’t want Brexit to succeed but just wanted to uplift his political career to someday be PM, took to the road in the big red Brexit bus with the slogan “We send the EU £350 million a week let’s fund our NHS instead – vote leave” slapped on the side. Even as a 14-year-old at the time, I was asking, “But what about what we get back from the EU?” — something that was avoided at all costs.

Economic Impact

Now, 9 years since the vote, and more importantly only 5 years outside of the EU, the UK has lost more in economic growth than it ever spent in 47 years for the EEA and EU membership fees. This is something that the government cannot ignore any further and is talked about peer to peer within our plucky, isolated borders.

Looking Ahead

Real risks are ahead for the future of the United Kingdom, with the rise of Reform (the MAGAs of the UK) topping recent polls and a lack of governmental acknowledgement of how truly awful Brexit has been. There will almost certainly be a future brain drain into the EU. I certainly will be moving over the next two election cycles, and I am not alone in this, as many of the people I know are planning the same, if not already moved.

The simple answer to all negatives that have already come and could come as a result of Brexit is a Breturn to the European Union.

Sources:

https://dl6pgk4f88hky.cloudfront.net/2022/08/Mirgration-scaled.jpg

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iMunmIVn87tA/v0/1200x775.webp

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/51484-how-do-britons-feel-about-brexit-five-years-on

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1D6tXg.img?w=768&h=466&m=6