UK marks gloomy third year of Brexit anniversary

Britain has celebrated the third anniversary of its historic break with the European Union in dismal circumstances.

Gripped by a lingering cost-of-living crisis, the country has little reason to rejoice as the International Monetary Fund issues grim forecasts for its economic outlook on Tuesday.

According to the latest forecast, Britain will be the only major economy in recession this year, contracting by 0.6%.

Even Russia, at war and hit by a series of international sanctions, is expected to grow.

Britain has been struggling for months with inflation above 10%, fueling historic industrial turmoil and pushing many households to the brink.

The biggest wave of strikes in 10 years is expected on Wednesday, especially in education and transport.

Three prime ministers succeeded each other last year and Northern Ireland is politically paralyzed as London tries to persuade Brussels to reconsider its post-Brexit status.

Despite promises of border control and successive anti-immigration plans, illegal crossings of the Channel are on the rise.

‘breret’

Three years after Big Ben chimed at 11pm to mark the divorce, Brexiters’ promises of more freedom seem a long way off, and there is a growing sense of Brexit regret or “Bregret” among the public.

According to an Ipsos survey released on Monday, 45% of Britons believe Brexit is not going as well as expected, compared to just 28% in June 2021.

9% think the opposite.

Boris Johnson, who was ousted from Downing Street last summer amid an avalanche of scandal, showed the same ironclad optimism with which he won the 2019 election and achieved Brexit after years of political psychodrama.

“Happy Brexit Day!” he tweeted with a video calling for “put aside all this negativity I’m hearing about Brexit and remember the opportunities ahead”.

Within the government, enthusiasm remained more subdued and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, himself a Brexiteer, underlined the “enormous progress made in harnessing the freedoms offered by Brexit”.

While the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine have significantly worsened the situation, there is significant evidence that Brexit has hurt the economy.

According to OBR, the government budget forecasting body, leaving the EU will reduce the size of the UK economy by about 4% in the long run.

However, there is little political appetite to go back

The Conservative Party remains committed to Brexit. Meanwhile, the Labor opposition, which is significantly higher in the polls less than two years before the next election, wants to avoid toxic debates on the issue.

Concerned about appealing to working-class Brexit voters, Labor leader Keir Starmer says a return to the EU is not on his agenda and the matter has been settled.