On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. A shell-shocked David Cameron announced his resignation as prime minister the following morning. Today, ten years later, the mood in Britain is pessimistic, and more and more policymakers now voice support for rejoining. Even with the current political turmoil over Keir Starmer’s exit, on this anniversary, I would like to make two bold claims: Brexit has paid off — and Britain will never rejoin the EU.
At its core, Brexit gave Britain back sovereignty that it had ceded to Brussels. But ten years on, what neither supporters nor opponents of Brexit care to admit is how little Brexit has really changed. Britain has not become the “Singapore-On-Thames,” and the sunlit uplands promised by Brexit proponents turned out to be cloudy.
Comments