Let's be real here... The reason why most people voted was because they didn't want the influx of (EU)-immigrants that they couldn't decide over.
That and the idea that they would have a lot more control after brexit while in reality the world is more complicated than that. E.g. they lose negotiation power in important trade deals because nowadays Britain is just a tiny island with little to say. A lot of other laws are influenced by international treaties between bigger economical powers as well.
Virtually nobody cares about trade deals. They care about how much the people that govern them reflect their own values and concerns. India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan probably would have benefitted economically from being one country with one common market. But nobody wants that because Indians don’t want to be governed by Pakistanis and vice versa. Trade is a red herring.
What reasons do people give to justify their vote choice for Leave or Remain? And, what are the reasons they think the other side voted as they did? New briefing note CSI Brexit 4: People’s Stated Reasons for Voting Leave or Remain. Summary of the findings:
Several different surveys and opinion polls have asked Britons why they voted the way they did in the EU referendum. The two main reasons people voted Leave were ‘immigration’ and ‘sovereignty’, whereas the main reason people voted Remain was ‘the economy’.
Analysis of data from the Centre for Social Investigation’s longitudinal survey on attitudes to Brexit bolsters these conclusions.
Among four possible reasons for voting Leave, ‘to teach British politicians a lesson’ is ranked last by an overwhelming majority of Leave voters, contrary to the claim that Brexit was a ‘protest vote’.
Among four possible reasons for voting Remain, ‘a strong attachment to Europe’ is ranked last by a sizable majority of Remain voters, consistent with the claim that Britons have a relatively weak sense of European identity.
When asked to rank the reasons why their counterparts voted the way they did, Leave voters characterise Remain voters more accurately than Remain voters characterise Leave voters. In particular, Remain voters underestimate the importance that Leave voters attach to the EU having no role in UK law-making.
---end quote.
As for losing negotiation power, since Brexit the UK has negotiated multiple Billions of GBP worth of trade deals around the world. The OECD and the IMF are forecasting that the UK economy will be above the Eurozone economy. (https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn02...)
I'm not sure that posting research showing that Leave voters' highest priority was immigration and their lowest priority by some distance was teaching politicians a lesson is the best way to rebut the GP's claim that immigration was much more important than a sense that politicians felt they could do what they wanted...
I'm not sure I follow. The two main reasons to vote for brexit are the ones that I mention?
I'm not sure I follow your negotiation power argument either.
It was necessary. The UK needed to negotiate trade deals and they have them now, that does not mean this was done from a position of strength. I of course hope that they managed to negotiate the best they could.
Regarding the statistics you bring up... What exactly are you looking at and over what time period? An interesting question would be how the UK could have performed had they stayed in the EU.
I ask because your link mentions the following: > "For 2021 as a whole, UK GDP growth was 7.4%. This was the highest in the G7. The UK had the largest decline in GDP among the G7 in 2020 (-9.3%) and its relatively strong performance in 2021 was to some degree a recovery from weakness in 2020."
Inflation is currently highest in 40 years, the current forecast is recession and Scotland will break away from the UK next year and joins the EU as soon as they can, Northern Ireland and Wales maybe follows. Ahh and let’s not talk about the English government plans for the Brexit agreement.
> They didn't have a majority in 2014 and it's unlikely they have it now.
They didn't but they won the last scottish general election with the clear program that they want to hold another indepence vote and that they will go for independence. Together with the Green party (also independence supporters) they have a pretty decent mayority. If I assume that everybody who voted for the will vote for indepence, then it is a done deal.
Also I can put 2 + 2 together. At the last independence vote people vote to stay in the UK to stay in the EU. At the Brexit vote 62% of the people voted for remain and not just that: every council in Scotland saw Remain majorities. The next independece vote is about to go back to the EU, so I assume people who vote to stay in the EU will vote to be in the EU again.
Also, the average Scotish is angry, because in the UK there are 39,860,400 voter in England and 4,079,600 voters in Scotland so it rarely matters what does the people in Scotland voting for. Also, they will be even more angry and desperate when they will get the winter energy bill (which will be 2-3x the last winter energy bill and a lots of people need to think about if the want to eat or stay warm). And they will be even more angry every time they are going to be told that you cannot vote again on their independence, because they will feel ignored again and they will not vote rationally. They will vote against the UK and against the current UK government because they had enough of not being able to have a say in what happening in Scotland (and it does no matter if this is true or not, the only thing matters if people belive it is true)
How do I know the people are angry and why they are angry? I live here and I talk to people.
That and the idea that they would have a lot more control after brexit while in reality the world is more complicated than that. E.g. they lose negotiation power in important trade deals because nowadays Britain is just a tiny island with little to say. A lot of other laws are influenced by international treaties between bigger economical powers as well.