Anti-Brexit demonstrator Steve Bray protests near Chequers, the official country residence of the prime minister, near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England [File: Peter Nicholls/Reuters]
Metropolis Desk-
This month, according to a study by the research firm YouGov, the percentage of Britons who believe Brexit was a mistake increased to a new high.
According to a YouGov poll released on Tuesday, 57 percent of Britons believe the decision to leave the EU in June 2016 was the wrong one, while only 32 percent think it was the right one. This is because there have been few positive effects on the economy since that vote.
If the referendum were to be held again, more than half (55%) said they would vote to stay in the EU, while 31% said they would vote to leave.
More than 2,000 British citizens were polled by YouGov, and the results showed that 63 percent now view Brexit as more of a failure than a triumph, compared to 12 percent who thought it was more of a success. Another 18% responded that it was neither.
In May, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed that Brexit was beneficial, citing his signature policy of freeports and reduced value-added taxes, which he claimed would lower the cost of beer and personal care items.
Freeports, which are special zones with reduced taxes and customs duties and streamlined trade rules, is not expected to significantly improve the UK’s economy, although they may not be very useful as a tool for local economic growth.
Comparatively speaking to other developed economies, British company investment has barely increased since the middle of 2016. While pro-Brexit economists cited the fact that capital had grown rapidly in the years before 2016 and was destined to slow, company surveys identified Brexit as one factor contributing to the slowdown.
International Monetary Fund projections put Britain at the bottom of the world’s major economies in terms of expected growth in 2023 (0.4 percent). In 2022, the UK economy grew by 4.1 percent. “Before the 2008 global financial crisis, the UK had been a strong performer among the Group of Seven countries,” the IMF said last week. “But this momentum was lost in the middle of the last decade. By 2022, real business investment was still slightly lower than in 2016 – in contrast to the 14 percent increase among other G7 economies.”
Many business leaders were infuriated by the governing Conservative Party’s decision to leave the EU’s single market and customs union at the end of 2020 and then by the economic turmoil during the premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
The British business community has faced challenges similar to those faced by businesses around the world, including higher energy costs and disrupted supply chains, but they have also had to adjust to new trade regulations as a result of Brexit and a shortage of workers because EU citizens are no longer able to enter the country without a visa to work in the UK as they previously could.
A handful of construction positions were added to Britain’s “shortage occupation list” on Monday, facilitating easier hiring of foreign workers to assist firms who are having trouble filling vacancies.
The revisions will assist tradespeople including bricklayers, masons, roofers, roof tilers, slaters, carpenters, joiners, and plasterers by lowering visa costs and relaxing employment requirements. Care providers, civil engineers, laboratory technicians, and healthcare workers are already on the list of occupations in low supply.
Source- Al Jazeera
