As January marks five years on from Britain leaving the EU, Alicja Hagopian and Kate Devlin explore its impact

Summary

Five years after Brexit, its promises of sovereignty, economic gains, and reduced migration remain unfulfilled. While Brexit offers regulatory flexibility, its overall impacts are largely negative.

The UK economy has suffered a £100bn annual output loss, with GDP 4% smaller than it would have been without Brexit.

Trade barriers have reduced exports, particularly to the EU, with small businesses and sectors like agriculture and fishing hit hardest.

Migration has surged to record levels, but net EU migration has turned negative.

Public dissatisfaction is high, with 59% believing Brexit has gone poorly.

  • @[email protected]English
    4•2 days ago

    The AfD in Germany, currently propped up by Musk in the form of Alice Weidel, whose modus operandi is demagoguery wants the Brexit analogue Dexit. She was granted a 15 minute interview by bloomberg a few days ago. Basically every statement was a blantant lie. She proposed free trade regulatories for Germany without being in the EU. Every statement of hers was a lie. And she was frenetically endorsed by EU/German politics oblivious US MAGA heads and Nazis in the comments. All of her proposals would bring Germany and with it possibly huge parts of Europe to its knees and open the door widely for russian interference. I wrote a 6000 character fact-check under the video and garnered 3300 likes for it in one day. Yesterday it was deleted. It was a good run but I think Europe is damned. I partially blame covid brain rot for it.

    • @ValmondEnglish
      1•1 day ago

      Don’t forget the kremlin.

      • @[email protected]English
        2•1 day ago

        Kremlin propaganda fell on frugal soil here in Germany. Especially the former GDR. I’d wager most liberals/lefts/social-democrats and even conservatives are pro-Ukraine here. And I’d wager that it’s most of them. I still have hope Musks endeavours can’t break the mental firewalls against fascism German education has tried to build in the heads of people, though it’s definitely broken even in West-Germany.