Ten years after Brexit vote, local grievances persist and a new poll shows 55% want freedom of movement restored
On the tenth anniversary of the UK's referendum to leave the EU, visits to leave-voting towns and a fresh poll reveal deep discontent with the outcome, while a former deputy prime minister says Britain could rejoin by 2036.
The mood in leave heartlands
Across England, the places that voted most heavily for Brexit are still waiting for the change they were promised. In Boston, Lincolnshire, where 75.6% opted to leave, café owner Michael Wood says he does not regret his vote but is disappointed.
He points to strained local services: no new hospitals, schools or GPs despite anticipated population pressures. In Sandwell, near Birmingham, boarded-up high streets remain a visual echo of the 2016 hope that leaving the EU would bring more jobs and opportunity. A BBC correspondent who returned to Princes End notes that for many, the vote was never about Europe itself but about fairness and a sense of being overlooked.I would say Brexit hasn't gone fast enough or far enough. I want closed borders.
Ports, fish and red tape
For the south coast port of Newhaven, Brexit meant a scramble to build customs infrastructure costing millions in just a few years, only for government funding to be cut back. Manager Dave Collins recalls the strain.
The new checkpoints were ready by 2023, but delays meant they sat unused for another year. In Devon and Cornwall, the fishing industry, once a poster child for the leave campaign, continues to feel let down. Although Britain now controls its own waters, EU boats still have access to inshore zones, an arrangement extended last year for a further 12 years, to the dismay of local producers.Going through Brexit was a nightmare, but we got there in the end. It was down to the bare essentials.
What the public thinks now
A new poll by Merlin Strategy for The Independent, conducted between 18 and 21 June, captures the shift in opinion a decade on. It finds that 62% of people believe immigration has worsened since Brexit, while only 8% say it has improved. Net migration exceeded 2.5 million between 2021 and 2024, driven partly by humanitarian schemes and labour shortages. At the same time, 55% want a return to freedom of movement, with just 16% opposed. The survey also reveals that 40% of voters would be more likely to support a party pledging to rejoin the EU at the next election, against 24% who would be less likely. Among Labour voters, the gap widens to 58% in favour versus 8% against.
People are increasingly feeling the Brexit effects on pockets, purses, jobs and opportunities.
- Believe immigration worsened
- 62 %
- Want return to freedom of movement
- 55 %
- More likely to vote for a party pledging to rejoin EU
- 40 %
- Oppose return to freedom of movement
- 16 %
- Think immigration improved
- 8 %
A path back?
Speaking on Sky News, former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg predicted that the UK would either have rejoined or be well on its way to doing so by 2036. He described Brexit as an attempt "to deny geography" and said Britain's security and trade interests would always tie it to the continent.
Clegg also linked the UK's future relationship with the EU to Ukraine's membership negotiations, arguing it would be unthinkable for Kyiv to sit at Europe's top table without London. The government, for its part, says it is focused on a closer, forward-looking relationship and points to an upcoming UK-EU summit on 22 July.I think one way or another, our interests will always remain closely tied up with our closest geographical neighbours.
London's divided capital
Even in majority-remain London, where 59.9% backed staying in the EU, the anniversary highlights a lasting split. Five of the capital's 33 boroughs voted leave, with the starkest contrast between Lambeth (highest remain) and Havering (highest leave). Reporting from both boroughs, the BBC finds that a decade has not erased the differences in how Londoners view the decision.
