Britain, Brexit, Burnham: how was it for EU?
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What legacy did Brexit leave on Britain a decade later?
This is The Guardian.
Today, it's not EU, it's me.
Brexit. I know what you're thinking. No thanks, let me out. But stay with me.
The total number of votes cast in favour of leave was 17 million.
This week marks 10 years since half the UK decided that the best direction the country could take would be to leave the European Union.
This means that the UK has voted to leave the European Union.
A four-decade project terminated by the public. But how did that actually go? And how has the last decade shaped the way we live now?
I think the political and the economic world we're living in is hugely shaped by Brexit. It's cast a really long shadow over both the major political parties in this country, which are now at risk of not being the major political parties for much longer, over the sort of general tenor of debate, I think, and the extent to which we're polarised. So I think it's been really, really significant and we're still feeling the impact of it 10 years on.
With the departure of yet another prime minister and the likely arrival of Andy Burnham in number 10, the heat is back in the relationship between the EU and the UK. 58% of Britons now say they would vote to rejoin given the chance. If you ask Gen Z, that goes up to three in five. Are we really going there again? And what lessons have been learned from one of the most bitter referendums in recent political history? From The Guardian, I'm Nosheen Iqbal. Today in Focus, Britain, Burnham and the other B word.
Heather Stewart, welcome back to Today in Focus. Thanks. Now, you're The Guardian's economics editor and crucially, you were politics editor at the time of the Brexit referendum. I don't really want to go back. None of us do. But we're here. It's been 10 years. Can you just give me a quick reminder of just how consequential that result, the country voting to leave the EU, how consequential it felt at the time?
It was an extraordinary moment, really. And not to reminisce too much, as you say, but I was on the early shift, the 4am shift, and I sort of arrived in the office to this turmoil because it was not what was expected. And it was a huge blow to the sitting government. The leadership of both parties had said to the public, we really, really want you to do this.
Our economic security is paramount. It is stronger if we stay. If we leave, we put it at risk. I've been the country's chancellor for six years. I think it would be a very big mistake for us to leave.
If we as a country decide to quit, then we're out for good. There's no going back.
And the public had sort of shrugged and said, we are not going to listen to you. We want to do something different. And so it wasn't clear on that first morning quite what the changes would be. And particularly it wasn't clear how long it would take to extricate ourselves from the EU and to decide what sort of relationship we were going to have with them. But it was really, really clear that it was a real jolt to the establishment. Lots of people who felt that they knew what they were doing, they knew how to do politics, they knew what the public wanted, were proved completely wrong. And it was a real shock.
Also, I still remember it being a real, you remember where you were kind of moment. And well, in my case, waking up in Glastonbury, everyone was just like, what?
I vividly remember sitting in front of my computer, waiting for David Cameron to come out onto Downing Street. And of course, he had said, I'm not going to resign.
If we vote to leave, will we carry out that instruction? Yes. Will I carry on as Prime Minister? Yes. Will I construct a government that includes all of the talents of the Conservative Party? Yes.
And then shortly thereafter, off he goes.
I was absolutely clear about my belief that Britain is stronger inside the European Union. But the British people have made a very clear decision to take a different path. And as such, I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction.
And I really remember thinking, gosh, this is an extraordinary moment.
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