According to a recent survey conducted by YouGov, about 57 percent of Britons believe that the decision to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016 was the wrong one, marking a new record high in the proportion of people who view Brexit as a mistake.
YouGov reported that, with limited economic benefits resulting from the 2016 referendum, 57 percent of Britons expressed the opinion that leaving the EU was the wrong decision, while 32 percent believed it was the right one.
In the event of another referendum, more than half of the respondents, 55 percent, said they would vote to remain in the EU, while 31 percent stated they would still opt to leave.
The survey, which involved over 2,000 British individuals, revealed that 63 percent of participants now perceive Brexit as more of a failure than a success, with only 12 percent considering it a success. Another 18 percent did not categorize it as either.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed that Brexit has delivered benefits, citing policies such as freeports and value-added tax cuts that are intended to lower prices for goods like beer and sanitary products. However, economists have expressed doubts about the potential economic impact of freeports, suggesting that they may have limited value as a regional development tool.
Since the mid-2016 Brexit referendum, British business investment has seen minimal growth compared to other advanced economies. While pro-Brexit economists argued that capital growth was bound to slow after a period of significant expansion, business surveys indicated that Brexit played a role in the stagnation.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that Britain would have the lowest expected growth among major economies in 2023, with a growth rate of 0.4 percent. In 2022, the UK’s economy grew by 4.1 percent.
The decision by the governing Conservative Party to leave the EU’s single market and customs union by the end of 2020, along with the economic disruptions during the premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, has caused frustration among many business leaders.
In addition to dealing with global challenges such as higher energy prices and disrupted supply chains, the British business community has faced additional difficulties due to the need to adapt to new trade rules following Brexit and a shortage of workers resulting from the end of visa-free travel for EU citizens working in the UK.
To address labor shortages in the construction industry, the British government recently included several construction jobs, including bricklayers, carpenters, and roofers, on the “shortage occupation list,” making it easier for employers in these sectors to hire staff from abroad.
The shortage occupation list already encompasses occupations such as care workers, civil engineers, laboratory technicians, and healthcare workers.
SOURCE: With Agencies