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Ten years after Brexit
Britons are marking ten years since the public referendum vote that led the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, and a recent YouGov survey found that 57% now think the UK was wrong to vote to leave the EU while 30% still think it was right to do so.
“London — A decade after the public referendum vote that led to the United Kingdom's "YouGov polling organization”
In London, pro-EU campaigner quoted by France 24 said, "Brexit has been an absolute disaster for the country," adding that it brought "loss of freedom of movement, families being split up."
The same CBS News report says the U.K. has been mired in political turmoil since the vote and that the economic impact has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and then the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
CBS News also cites the Office for Budgetary Responsibility, saying leaving the EU has reduced British productivity, imports and exports, while an analysis of government data shows the economy took a 6% hit as a result of Brexit.
Asked by CBS News' partner network BBC on Tuesday if he regretted Brexit, Nigel Farage said it was "absolutely the right thing to do."
Voices on blame and regret
CBS News reports that the Brexit vote split Britain "down the middle" and quotes another pro-EU campaigner saying "nothing good has come of that since," while also noting that two-thirds of those who voted for Brexit still stand by their original vote.
The report also says that while some who voted to leave the EU now admit to feeling some "Bregret," overall 30% of the Britons polled by YouGov said they still believe the U.K. was right to leave.
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Farage, described as a far-right populist and Trump ally who leads the Reform UK party, told BBC that "The earthquake that happened 10 years ago today was not accepted by the establishment."
In the YouGov study, a Leave voter said, "We recovered sovereignty," while another Leave voter argued, "I absolutely do not want to go back in."
The YouGov qualitative analysis also includes a Remain voter who said, "Politicians have failed to make the best of the freedom Brexit gave us," while blaming the economy’s lack of prosperity on "covid and the war in Ukraine."
What comes next
CBS News says the idea of rejoining the EU remains divisive, and it notes that few politicians have indicated any will to even table the idea of holding another referendum.
“People in Britain are marking 10 years since they voted to leave the European Union”
In the YouGov AI Interviewer analysis, respondents who think Brexit was right frequently cite sovereignty and border control, including a Leave voter who said, "We were having to toe the line on every European law" and a Remain voter who said the ability to hold governments to account matters after Brexit.
CBS News also points to the 2016 referendum result, saying the Leave campaign won with 51.9% of the vote with about 17.4 million people voting to leave and 16.1 million voting to remain.
The CBS News report adds that six million people in the U.K. have died since the vote, and it quotes pollster Peter Kellner saying the pro-Brexit majority "has literally died out."
NHKニュース reports that a new poll found nearly 60 percent now believe the country made the wrong choice, and it says the current Labour government says it has no plans to rejoin the EU while agreeing to hold talks to simplify trade procedures for farm products.
