{"id":218057,"date":"2025-06-27T07:42:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T07:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/218057\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T07:42:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T07:42:13","slug":"liberal-democrat-councillor-rob-colwell-looks-back-on-the-nine-years-since-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/218057\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberal Democrat councillor Rob Colwell looks back on the nine years since Brexit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this week\u2019s Friday Politics column, Liberal Democrat councillor Rob Colwell looks back on the nine years since Brexit\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nine years ago this week the country was conned by Nigel Farage, and committed self-sabotage.<\/p>\n

Nothing has changed and his Reform UK is the latest incarnation fighting for the ultrawealthy under the cover of \u201cget your country back\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"LizLiz Truss, then MP and Remain campaigner, and Cllr Rob Colwell at a Remain stall in Downham<\/p>\n

In June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union by a narrow margin of 52% to 48%. At the time, Leave campaigners promised a brighter future, reclaiming sovereignty, controlling immigration, and boosting the economy with newly negotiated trade deals.<\/p>\n

These promises appear not just unfulfilled, but fundamentally misguided. Brexit, rather than restoring prosperity or independence, has instead revealed itself as a national disaster economically, politically, and socially.<\/p>\n

The economic consequences of Brexit have been profound. Multiple studies, including from the Office for Budget Responsibility and the London School of Economics, have estimated that Brexit has reduced UK GDP by 4-5% compared to a scenario where Britain remained in the EU.<\/p>\n

\"RobRob Colwell with \u2018Norfolk for Europe\u2019 members outside the Customs House<\/p>\n

Brexit \u2018project fear\u2019 prediction of \u00a340billion a year loss of tax income is pretty accurate, these same economists now say. It translates into lower growth, higher inflation, and weakened public services.<\/p>\n

Reading the North West Norfolk MP column last week \u201ctaking a gloomy look at UK\u2019s finances\u201d I was reminded that he was one of Boris Johnson\u2019s Brexit advisors and therefore it\u2019s not unreasonable to hold him partly accountable for this mess.<\/p>\n

Trade has suffered significantly. Frictionless access to the EU’s single market has been replaced with customs paperwork, regulatory barriers, and increased costs for businesses.<\/p>\n

Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular have struggled to navigate the new bureaucracy, leading many to stop exporting altogether. Promised trade deals have failed to make up the difference.<\/p>\n

Investment has also declined. The UK, once a magnet for international investment due to its status as a gateway to Europe, now finds itself less attractive.<\/p>\n

Several major manufacturers, including carmakers like Honda and Nissan, have scaled back their UK operations or moved production to EU countries. The financial services sector, another pillar of the British economy, has quietly shifted thousands of jobs and billions in assets to European cities.<\/p>\n

Brexit has also had destabilising effects on the United Kingdom\u2019s political landscape. We had the \u2018Farage riots\u2019 last summer with far-right, anti-immigrant protests around the UK.<\/p>\n

It also reignited tensions in Northern Ireland, putting the peace secured by the Good Friday Agreement under strain.<\/p>\n

The Northern Ireland Protocol, created to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, has instead created a de facto customs border in the Irish Sea. Unionist communities feel betrayed, while nationalist sentiment grows stronger.<\/p>\n

Brexit\u2019s impact goes beyond the economy and politics, it has also reshaped the UK\u2019s national psyche.<\/p>\n

Xenophobia and nationalism, emboldened by Leave campaign rhetoric, have led to a measurable rise in hate crimes and a more insular political climate.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s cultural and academic institutions have suffered, particularly through the loss of EU programs like Erasmus, which enabled student exchanges and fostered international cooperation.<\/p>\n

The promised \u201ccontrol\u201d over immigration has also backfired. While EU immigration has decreased, the UK\u2019s economy – especially in agriculture, hospitality, and healthcare – has struggled to find enough workers.<\/p>\n

Labour shortages have driven up costs and led to reduced services, from supermarket shelves going unstocked to care homes lacking essential staff.<\/p>\n

Finally, I noted the Lynn News did not run a story that made national news about a Facebook post by Cllr Kay Mason Billig, the Conservative leader of Norfolk County Council.<\/p>\n

\"NorfolkNorfolk County Council leader Kay Mason Billig’s controversial Facebook post<\/p>\n

I will let readers decide if her private message to friends, \u201cWonder what all the poor people are doing?\u201d with a picture of a tomahawk steak and red wine, is at best an appalling lack of judgement or at worst a display of contempt for those in need in Norfolk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this week\u2019s Friday Politics column, Liberal Democrat councillor Rob Colwell looks back on the nine years since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,391,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-218057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-opinion","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114754207403880125","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}