The British are gradually becoming aware of the damage Brexit has caused. But the way back into the EU internal market is taboo.
The “Festival of Brexit”, a British government initiative with events in 107 towns and cities, was a flop. Of the 66 million hoped-for visitors to the tax-funded showcase of British creativity, designed to boost self-confidence in British society freed from the EU, just three million came. The shame wasn’t enough: In October, festival director Martin Green himself turned his back on the event and was hired as chief organizer of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Eurovision instead of Brexit: Since the exit from the EU at the beginning of 2020, the British’s belief in their own path has suffered. The country is not only slipping into recession because of war and the pandemic (a GDP drop of 1.4 percent is expected for 2023), but also, as the British central bank has confirmed: also because of the exit from the EU. Inflation reached a record level of 11.1 percent, and unemployment, which was very low recently (currently 3.6 percent), is now rising for the first time.