Did we really vote for these policies during the Brexit referendum? - Andy Brown

Way back in the dim and distant days of 2016 the British people were offered a chance to vote in a referendum on whether they preferred promises of £350m every week for the NHS or dire warnings that there would be economic, social and environmental problems if we did. It was perhaps not entirely surprising that the public opted by a narrow majority for the nice promises.
By Andy Brown
Published 18th Oct 2022, 06:00 BST

No referendum was ever held on whether the British people wanted the actual deal that was negotiated. All we voted on were the slogans. Now some of the realities are beginning to hit home.

The EU was Britain’s biggest export market. Any business selling into that market now faces extra bureaucracy and extra costs and the consequences have been a reduction in British exports.

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We were promised that new trade deals would be signed that would see Britain proudly trading across the world and vibrantly prospering in emerging markets. So far only a very few deals have been signed. Those deals expose our farmers to unfair competition from countries which soak their crops in pesticides and use battery farming techniques on cattle and pigs.

File photo of the Union Jack and the EU flag flying from the same mast. PIC: PA Wire/PA ImagesFile photo of the Union Jack and the EU flag flying from the same mast. PIC: PA Wire/PA Images
File photo of the Union Jack and the EU flag flying from the same mast. PIC: PA Wire/PA Images

We were told that there would be no decline in standards when we left the EU. Either for working people or for the environment. Indeed, we were told they would improve.

Now we are hearing the RSPB, the National Trust and a string of other well respected environmental charities say that they are worried sick about the proposals that are coming forward to casually dump planning regulations in so called ‘investment’ zones.

We are also routinely told that financial rules are very pesky things and that we cannot possibly prosper as a country unless we allow the city of London a free hand and large bonuses. In return for gambling with other people’s money and exposing us all to a repeat of the horrible 2008 crash.

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Instead of moving forward and becoming stronger we now find our economy is being battered in the markets. Financial traders are insisting on higher interest rate payments if they are going to lend to a government that they simply don’t trust to run the economy responsibly. People are paying higher mortgages as a result of the blind faith of this government in a political theory.

We used to be a country that was respected for its common sense and moderation. Now our currency is being marked down as unreliable and we are receiving warnings from the International Monetary Fund that it is not a good idea to base policy choices on the over-optimism of true believers in a cause. Instead of a brave new world, what we have actually got is a government floundering around in a mess created by the determination of the current set of Ministers to follow policies that their ideology tells them must work. Unfortunately for the rest of us real economic life isn’t inclined to follow those daft theories.

Six years ago people voted for things to get better. It would be interesting to hold a referendum on whether people think that has actually happened.

Since neither of the two main political parties has the courage to identify the real origin of many of the problems that are besetting our country it is left to the rest of us to make it clear. Brexit has been a huge mistake and the sooner we realise it the better.

Andy Brown is a Craven District Councillor.

Related topics:BrexitNHSRSPBNational TrustPeople