He Brexitone of the greatest political events of the 21st century, this Friday turns five years without celebrations or resolution of the old divisions that They took 52% of the British to vote for leaving the European Union (EU) in a referendum in 2016.
It was at midnight on January 31, 2020 when the march was executed, after successive British conservative governments had previously negotiated with Brussels the withdrawal and trade and cooperation agreements.
On the fifth anniversary of the breakup, Only the ‘Torsa’ have celebrated in a statement “the achievements of the United Kingdom outside the EU”although they warn that the current Labor Executive “tries to reverse them.”
The prime minister, Keir Starmer -Antaño Ultraeuropeist-, has reiterated through a spokesman his intention of strengthen the relationship with the blockbut discards flatly returning to the single market or the customs union.
The Europhobus Nigel FarageBrexit’s great promoter and today the leader of Reform UK, still defends it, but says to be “disappointed” with the results.
Of the great formations, only the Liberal Democratsthird parliamentary force, have begun to Timidate a return to community structures.
No referendum in sight
Either by the application of protocolNorthern Ireland -What keeps the British province in the single market for goods in order to avoid a border with Ireland- or for the implementation of new border requirements, Brexit is present daily in the life of the British.
This Friday a new requirement has entered into force for importers to present a Safety declaration on merchandisesomething that until now was only demanded if it came from countries outside the EU.
However, it is an issue that It is barely tornneither in politics nor in the street in the United Kingdom. For the fear of costing votes, he was also absent from the last electoral campaign.
Hence, Starmer, which despite having an absolute majority has a fragile electoral base, shows cautiouspromising an approach to the EU without specifying it.
Its intention is to “strengthen the links in security and defense, improve the trade and investment relationship and work with the EU to identify areas that are of national interest to the United Kingdom,” said its spokesman.
Lack of consensus
He Conservative partymeanwhile, argues that Brexit allowed negotiating More than 70 trade agreements and eliminate bureaucracyin addition to recovering the sovereignty.
“Five years ago, conservatives honored the democratic will of the British people and materialized it,” said the exterior spokeswoman, Priti Patelwhich accuses the Labor Government of wanting to “dismantle and drag again (to the country) to the claws of the EU”.
The leader of the Democratic Liberal Party, Ed Daveyurge Starmer to negotiate with Brussels a customs union, with the argument that you have to do common front before the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Disenchantment grows
With the temporal perspective of a five years, 55% of the British now believe that they did wrong to get out of the EUaccording to a survey published this week by the firm Yougov. One in six people They voted in favor of Brexit consider it a mistake.
This change in idea derives from the generalized perception that Brexit has not involved as many benefits as attributed to him. His supporters, among which he stood out Boris Johnsonthey grabbed the slogan of “recovering control” to claim the sovereign law of the United Kingdom to make their own decisions without supposed external dependencies or impositions.
Among the declared objectives was Reduce immigrationbut the data show that in 2023 the net migration rate threw a positive balance of 906,000 people and Great cuts in the short and medium term are not expected. The National Statistical Office in fact provides that the population increases at five million over the next ten years, largely due to the impact of immigrants.
62% of the people consulted by Yougov are inclined to consider that the consequences of abandoning the EU tend more towards failure than towards successan assessment that confess one in three Brexit voters. Only 22% of these voters talk about successwhile 38% leave their valuation in flat.