Ahead of Brexit Anniversary, Most U.K. Voters Say Plan Turned Out Badly
BY JON JACKSON
BY JON JACKSON
NEWSWEEK
ON 12/27/21
More than 60 percent of British voters say Brexit has either "gone badly" or "worse than expected" a year after the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union, according to a new poll.
The poll was conducted ahead of the anniversary by the research agency Opinium for The Observer. The survey found that 42 percent of people who voted to "Leave" the E.U. in 2016 now have a negative view of how Brexit has turned out.
Of those with a negative opinion, 26 percent of respondents said the plan has gone worse than they had expected, and 16 percent said they had expected it to go badly and the results proved they were right.
More than 60 percent of British voters say Brexit has either "gone badly" or "worse than expected" a year after the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union, according to a new poll.
The poll was conducted ahead of the anniversary by the research agency Opinium for The Observer. The survey found that 42 percent of people who voted to "Leave" the E.U. in 2016 now have a negative view of how Brexit has turned out.
Of those with a negative opinion, 26 percent of respondents said the plan has gone worse than they had expected, and 16 percent said they had expected it to go badly and the results proved they were right.
On the anniversary of Brexit, most U.K. voters say the plan has not turned out well, according to a new poll. In this photo, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlines his government's negotiating stance with the European Union after Brexit at the Old Naval College on February 3, 2020, in London.
FRANK AUGSTEIN/WPA POOL/GETTY
The U.K. originally voted to leave the E.U. in 2016 and officially exited the trading bloc on January 31, 2020. The two sides had an agreement, though, to continue functioning much as it had before what popularly became known as "Brexit" until December 31, 2020. During the time, a new trade deal was worked out between the U.K. and the E.U.
On January 1, 2021, the separation was more complete, and the U.K. could then negotiate its own deals with other countries. Border crossings were also no longer as open as they were before the end of the transition period.
Among those who voted "Remain" during the 2016 vote, 86 percent said Brexit went badly or worse than they expected.
Just 14 percent of all voters said Brexit had gone better than they had expected it to go.
"For most of the Brexit process any time you'd ask a question that could be boiled down to 'is Brexit good or bad?' you'd have all of the Remainers saying 'bad' and all of the Leavers saying 'good' and these would cancel each other out," Adam Drummond of Opinium told The Observer.
He continued, "Now what we're seeing is a significant minority of Leavers saying that things are going badly or at least worse than they expected. While 59 percent of Remain voters said, 'I expected it to go badly and think it has,' only 17 percent of Leave voters said, 'I expected it to go well and think it has.'"
Drummond added that "instead of two uniformly opposing blocs, the Remain bloc are still mostly united on Brexit being bad while the Leave bloc are a bit more split."
On January 1, another controversial trade rule goes into effect at U.K. borders. At that time, full customs checks will be applied to goods being exported from the E.U. to the U.K. Critics argue this move could cause issues for exporters at the border and thus further affect already disrupted supply chains in the U.K.
The U.K. originally voted to leave the E.U. in 2016 and officially exited the trading bloc on January 31, 2020. The two sides had an agreement, though, to continue functioning much as it had before what popularly became known as "Brexit" until December 31, 2020. During the time, a new trade deal was worked out between the U.K. and the E.U.
On January 1, 2021, the separation was more complete, and the U.K. could then negotiate its own deals with other countries. Border crossings were also no longer as open as they were before the end of the transition period.
Among those who voted "Remain" during the 2016 vote, 86 percent said Brexit went badly or worse than they expected.
Just 14 percent of all voters said Brexit had gone better than they had expected it to go.
"For most of the Brexit process any time you'd ask a question that could be boiled down to 'is Brexit good or bad?' you'd have all of the Remainers saying 'bad' and all of the Leavers saying 'good' and these would cancel each other out," Adam Drummond of Opinium told The Observer.
He continued, "Now what we're seeing is a significant minority of Leavers saying that things are going badly or at least worse than they expected. While 59 percent of Remain voters said, 'I expected it to go badly and think it has,' only 17 percent of Leave voters said, 'I expected it to go well and think it has.'"
Drummond added that "instead of two uniformly opposing blocs, the Remain bloc are still mostly united on Brexit being bad while the Leave bloc are a bit more split."
On January 1, another controversial trade rule goes into effect at U.K. borders. At that time, full customs checks will be applied to goods being exported from the E.U. to the U.K. Critics argue this move could cause issues for exporters at the border and thus further affect already disrupted supply chains in the U.K.
Boris Johnson ‘betrayed’ the fishing industry to get Brexit done – says Express
"I thought we would take back control," former Brexit Party MEP June Mummery told the paper.
by Jack Peat
2021-12-29
in Politics
Boris Johnson ‘betrayed’ the fishing industry to get his EU deal over the line, one of Britain’s biggest Brexit-backing newspapers has said.
The EU and UK reached a deal on quotas of shared fish stocks last week, with minister Joze Podgorsek of Slovenia, which holds the EU presidency, describing it as an agreement “that provides certainty for EU fishermen and women going forward.”
The decision reverts back to last year’s trade deal between France and the UK and sets catch quotas and rights for about 100 shared fish stocks in each other’s waters.
It has been widely criticised by environmentalists, who say fish will continue to be over-exploited following the deal.
“Biggest betrayal”
Quoting former MEP June Mummery, The Express newspaper also had a thing or two to say about it.
She told the paper: “I can’t tell you how betrayed I feel by Boris.
“He has betrayed the fishing industry and coastal communities.
“But the biggest betrayal is our ocean and Mother Nature. He has betrayed them as well.
“Our ocean is in crisis. It is betrayal.”
She went on to say how when Britain departed the EU, the UK should have “taken full control back” and she had great hopes.
"I thought we would take back control," former Brexit Party MEP June Mummery told the paper.
by Jack Peat
2021-12-29
in Politics
Boris Johnson ‘betrayed’ the fishing industry to get his EU deal over the line, one of Britain’s biggest Brexit-backing newspapers has said.
The EU and UK reached a deal on quotas of shared fish stocks last week, with minister Joze Podgorsek of Slovenia, which holds the EU presidency, describing it as an agreement “that provides certainty for EU fishermen and women going forward.”
The decision reverts back to last year’s trade deal between France and the UK and sets catch quotas and rights for about 100 shared fish stocks in each other’s waters.
It has been widely criticised by environmentalists, who say fish will continue to be over-exploited following the deal.
“Biggest betrayal”
Quoting former MEP June Mummery, The Express newspaper also had a thing or two to say about it.
She told the paper: “I can’t tell you how betrayed I feel by Boris.
“He has betrayed the fishing industry and coastal communities.
“But the biggest betrayal is our ocean and Mother Nature. He has betrayed them as well.
“Our ocean is in crisis. It is betrayal.”
She went on to say how when Britain departed the EU, the UK should have “taken full control back” and she had great hopes.
Take back control
Ms Mummery continued: “I thought we would take back control.
“We would rebuild our coastal communities.
“The UK could have been one of the best sustainable fishing industries in the world.
“At the moment, the problem is we have no fish. There is no fish out there.
“The Channel is barren because there are still 1,700 EU vessels trawling our waters unpoliced. No one is looking at that.”
The former MEP went on to add how she does not see any positives going into next year and said the UK still has “four more years of this”.
Ms Mummery added: “I do not see any positives going into 2022.
“We have a bunch of clowns negotiating.
“We have four more years of this.
“After four years, we are still tied to tariffs, aviation and energy.
“We are being sold out.”
Ms Mummery continued: “I thought we would take back control.
“We would rebuild our coastal communities.
“The UK could have been one of the best sustainable fishing industries in the world.
“At the moment, the problem is we have no fish. There is no fish out there.
“The Channel is barren because there are still 1,700 EU vessels trawling our waters unpoliced. No one is looking at that.”
The former MEP went on to add how she does not see any positives going into next year and said the UK still has “four more years of this”.
Ms Mummery added: “I do not see any positives going into 2022.
“We have a bunch of clowns negotiating.
“We have four more years of this.
“After four years, we are still tied to tariffs, aviation and energy.
“We are being sold out.”
These Brexiteers quotes on fuel and energy costs falling after leaving the EU have aged terribly
THE INDEPENDENT
With fuel and energy costs rising in the UK compared to the EU, a handful of quotes from Brexiteers championing the supposed fall of such prices if the public voted to leave have resurfaced.
A quote Michael Gove gave to the British public in the lead up to the EU referendum vote has resurfaced and it’s aged very badly.
In May 2016, just one month before the country voted for Brexit, the Conservative minister appeared on Sky News where he was interviewed by Eamon Holmes.
During the interview, Gove claimed that if the country left the EU, the government would be able to remove VAT on fuel, saving money for the poorest families.
In fact, British drivers now pay more for their fuel than their counterparts in many EU countries.
In 2016, Gove claimed: “If we vote to leave the European Union, we can cut VAT on domestic fuel to zero and that would save households about £60 a year.
“Now, this is something we can only do if we leave the European Union. Once we’re in the EU at VAT’s slapped on any product, it can’t be taken off.
“But if we leave the EU, we can use the millions of pounds that we would save from being outside the EU to cut VAT on fuel, and that would help the poorest families most of all.”
But, as it transpires now, British drivers are actually paying around £16 more than others in EU countries each time they fill up their car tanks.
An investigation by campaign group FairFuelUK found that on Christmas Eve, petrol in the UK cost £1.45 a litre, on average.
In comparison, that was 27p higher than in Austria, 21p pricier than in Spain and 14p higher than in Germany.
The claim that fuel and energy costs would be lower outside the EU was also peddled by other Brexiteers including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Douglas Carswell and Daniel Hannan on various television appearances.
With gas market prices rising, it’s likely fuel bills will continue to rise, but the government has failed to do what it can to assist.
If the Treasury removed VAT on gas and electricity, as Gove promised was possible outside of the EU, bills could be cut by 5 per cent.
With fuel and energy costs rising in the UK compared to the EU, a handful of quotes from Brexiteers championing the supposed fall of such prices if the public voted to leave have resurfaced.
A quote Michael Gove gave to the British public in the lead up to the EU referendum vote has resurfaced and it’s aged very badly.
In May 2016, just one month before the country voted for Brexit, the Conservative minister appeared on Sky News where he was interviewed by Eamon Holmes.
During the interview, Gove claimed that if the country left the EU, the government would be able to remove VAT on fuel, saving money for the poorest families.
In fact, British drivers now pay more for their fuel than their counterparts in many EU countries.
In 2016, Gove claimed: “If we vote to leave the European Union, we can cut VAT on domestic fuel to zero and that would save households about £60 a year.
“Now, this is something we can only do if we leave the European Union. Once we’re in the EU at VAT’s slapped on any product, it can’t be taken off.
“But if we leave the EU, we can use the millions of pounds that we would save from being outside the EU to cut VAT on fuel, and that would help the poorest families most of all.”
But, as it transpires now, British drivers are actually paying around £16 more than others in EU countries each time they fill up their car tanks.
An investigation by campaign group FairFuelUK found that on Christmas Eve, petrol in the UK cost £1.45 a litre, on average.
In comparison, that was 27p higher than in Austria, 21p pricier than in Spain and 14p higher than in Germany.
The claim that fuel and energy costs would be lower outside the EU was also peddled by other Brexiteers including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Douglas Carswell and Daniel Hannan on various television appearances.
With gas market prices rising, it’s likely fuel bills will continue to rise, but the government has failed to do what it can to assist.
If the Treasury removed VAT on gas and electricity, as Gove promised was possible outside of the EU, bills could be cut by 5 per cent.
Product testing failing to meet post-Brexit demands
The switch from the old European CE mark to the new UKCA conformity mark on construction products and machinery is not working out, government has been told.
22 Nov,2021
22 Nov,2021
The Construction Leadership Council has told minister that the transition to the post-Brexit product marking regime – which has already had to be postponed once – needs a serious re-think.
“We have identified the many complex and inter-connected issues involved in this transition,” the Construction Leadership Council co-chair Andy Mitchell says in a letter to both Michael Gove, secretary of state for “levelling up” (which includes house-building), and Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
These include a lack of product testing capacity in the UK. There is a large pan-European network of testing facilities for CE marking but, since Brexit, the UK no longer recognises any of these. Everything has to be re-tested by a UK body authorised by UKAS, the national accreditation body for the United Kingdom. And there are too many products on the market for the UK testing industry to cope with.
The transition from Conformité Européenne, or CE, marking to the new United Kingdom Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark had originally been scheduled for the end of 2021. In August this year it was put back to 1st January 2023 in recognition of the problems. [See our previous report here.]
Mr Mitchell writes: “Our main cause of concern is that for a significant range of construction products there is limited or no capacity for these tests to be carried out in line with the UK Construction Product Regulations. There must be a significant expansion of facilities with the incumbent recruiting and training of staff, who must all then receive authorisation by UKAS, before more products can be put through the new process. Unfortunately, this expansion of capacity is not happening quickly enough.
“We have been collecting tangible evidence from construction product manufacturers about the lack of testing capacity. The evidence makes clear that numerous common and essential products such as radiators, glass, passive fire protection, glues and sealants will be adversely affected by a lack of UK testing capability.
“If the current situation prevails, these products will not be available on the UK market after the January 2023 deadline. The inability to certify radiators in the UK, for instance, could delay the construction of over 150,000 homes in a single year and will also delay the switch to low carbon heating.
“The consequences are clearly damaging not only to the UK construction sector but also to the government’s ambitions around housebuilding, infrastructure, building safety and net zero in the built environment.”
It is only an issue in Great Britain. Northern Ireland will be allowed to keep using CE marked products.
The Construction Leadership Council offers several fixes to the problem, including allowing CE certified products onto the GB market for a longer transition period or allowing testing to be subcontracted overseas – offshoring UKCA certification.
“There are steps that can be taken to mitigate these risks, but action is needed now,” the letter concludes.
The full text of the letter is available here.
“We have identified the many complex and inter-connected issues involved in this transition,” the Construction Leadership Council co-chair Andy Mitchell says in a letter to both Michael Gove, secretary of state for “levelling up” (which includes house-building), and Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
These include a lack of product testing capacity in the UK. There is a large pan-European network of testing facilities for CE marking but, since Brexit, the UK no longer recognises any of these. Everything has to be re-tested by a UK body authorised by UKAS, the national accreditation body for the United Kingdom. And there are too many products on the market for the UK testing industry to cope with.
The transition from Conformité Européenne, or CE, marking to the new United Kingdom Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark had originally been scheduled for the end of 2021. In August this year it was put back to 1st January 2023 in recognition of the problems. [See our previous report here.]
Mr Mitchell writes: “Our main cause of concern is that for a significant range of construction products there is limited or no capacity for these tests to be carried out in line with the UK Construction Product Regulations. There must be a significant expansion of facilities with the incumbent recruiting and training of staff, who must all then receive authorisation by UKAS, before more products can be put through the new process. Unfortunately, this expansion of capacity is not happening quickly enough.
“We have been collecting tangible evidence from construction product manufacturers about the lack of testing capacity. The evidence makes clear that numerous common and essential products such as radiators, glass, passive fire protection, glues and sealants will be adversely affected by a lack of UK testing capability.
“If the current situation prevails, these products will not be available on the UK market after the January 2023 deadline. The inability to certify radiators in the UK, for instance, could delay the construction of over 150,000 homes in a single year and will also delay the switch to low carbon heating.
“The consequences are clearly damaging not only to the UK construction sector but also to the government’s ambitions around housebuilding, infrastructure, building safety and net zero in the built environment.”
It is only an issue in Great Britain. Northern Ireland will be allowed to keep using CE marked products.
The Construction Leadership Council offers several fixes to the problem, including allowing CE certified products onto the GB market for a longer transition period or allowing testing to be subcontracted overseas – offshoring UKCA certification.
“There are steps that can be taken to mitigate these risks, but action is needed now,” the letter concludes.
The full text of the letter is available here.
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