Only four per cent of UK people think Brexit has been going “very well”, a new poll has revealed.
A YouGov survey asking if Britain has done “well or badly” since the beginning of 2021, when Brexit came into force, received responses from 6546 people.
By contrast, 32 per cent thought Brexit has been going “very badly”, and 21 per cent said it turned out “fairly badly”.
Things have gone “fairly well” according to just 14 per cent of respondents, whilst 21 per cent said Brexit has not been neither positive, nor negative. The remaining 8 per cent were not sure about whether the effects of Brexit have been good or bad.
Lorry drivers shortages hit UK sectors
It comes as lorry driver shortages have hit various UK sectors over the past few months, the latest of which is fuel.
The government has tried several measures to ease the crisis, from simplifying HGV driving tests to allowing lorry bosses to prolong drivers’ working hours.
But transport minister Grant Shapps consistently refused allowing EU drivers to get post-Brexit work visas, eventually giving in.
The government has recently announced it would allow up to 5,000 drivers from abroad to come to the UK and help drive lorries, but only until Christmas.
Shapps has admitted Brexit has been a “factor” in the UK’s spiralling fuel crisis – despite claiming last week that it is “wrong” to blame the debacle on Brexit.
Transport minister admits Brexit has been crisis ‘factor’
Although he continues to insist that the pandemic is the main cause of the crisis, the transport secretary admitted on Tuesday morning that Britain’s divorce from Brussels “no doubt will have been a factor”.
He added: “On the other hand, it has actually helped us to change rules to be able to test more drivers more quickly. So it has actually worked in both ways.”
But Labour’s shadow chancellor David Lammy told Shapps that shortages of staff, skills and supplies happened “largely because of promises the Conservative Party made on Brexit, which have not been delivered”.
Meanwhile, the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said fuel shortages in the UK are a “direct consequence” of Brexit.
Olaf Scholz, who could replace Angela Merkel as Germany’s chancellor agreed, saying: “We worked very hard to convince the British not to leave the union. Now they decided different and I hope they will manage the problems coming from that.”
More than half of UK people noticed food shortages
In August, it emerged 56 per cent of Britons had noticed food shortages in their local shops or supermarkets.
The figures are up from 36 per cent in late July, according to YouGov polls.
The age group which most noticed the shortages are those aged over 50, figures revealed.
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