‘We did regain control’: The Brexit voters with no regrets 10 years on

Despite polls showing that most Britons regret leaving the European Union, many others believe the case for quitting the bloc still holds. “The arguments for Brexit now are largely the same as they were then: sovereignty, democracy and taking back control,” University of Cambridge professor and Brexit supporter Robert Tombs told Al Jazeera. Recommended Stories list of 4 items end of list Control was a central theme of the “Leave” camp. Brexiters called for more control over migration to protect borders from foreign supranational powers, as well as wresting sovereignty back from the bloc – which they portrayed as an out-of-touch middle-class group of elites – and returning it to the people. “Britain was never especially happy in the EU, but then Greece, Italy and others do not appear to be especially happy either,” Tombs said. “One of the arguments for leaving was that Britain has always been more closely tied to countries outside the EU, especially English-speaking ones, than to countries within the bloc,” he continued. The landmark referendum 10 years ago saw Britain break its association with the EU after more than 43 years of an occasionally volatile membership. Those who remain committed to Brexit blame successive governments for failing to maximise the perceived freedoms of leaving the bloc. They also say that the negative predictions associated with “project fear”, narratives among those who campaigned to remain within the union, have failed to materialise. …