The UK's exit from the European Union dominated the country's 2019 general election, with promises of lower immigration and a stronger economy sweeping the Conservatives to a landslide win. But five years later Brexit is barely being mentioned on the campaign trail ahead of July 4 elections – with "leave" supporters voicing disappointment over broken pledges with immigration at record highs and businesses pointing to the financial fall-out. "I just think that no party has got the answer," says Skegness town councillor Danny Brookes. The constituency of Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire had the largest share of pro-leave votes in the 2016 referendum, with around 75 percent choosing to exit the bloc. "A lot of people are disappointed with the Brexit we've got," says Brookes. "If the vote happened again, and we were going to get this Brexit, I don't think people would vote for it."
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00:00The people of the UK mandated us in Westminster, all of us, to get it done. We promised time
00:07and time again that we would do it.
00:14Britain's last general election was all about leaving the European Union. This time around,
00:21Brexit is hardly getting a mention, and residents in the English seaside town of Skagness are
00:27not surprised. The constituency in Lincolnshire had the highest share of leave votes to exit
00:33the bloc in the 2016 referendum. But eight years later, many feel that the Brexit campaign's
00:40promises have been broken.
00:44It was a wrong decision, but nobody knew what was coming. Of course, see the future, see
00:54what would happen. In theory, it was a bad decision, but it looked good at the time on
00:59paper, didn't it?
01:04Brexit promised economic prosperity and stronger social services. Yet it sparked trading chaos,
01:10labour shortages and restrictions on travel to Europe, amid a cost of living crisis and
01:16massive backlogs in healthcare. Polls now suggest that most Britons think leaving the
01:21EU was wrong.
01:24I think they've let us down. They promised us they could do it, oven-ready deals, and
01:28in actual fact, they had nothing. Well, it was 75%, I think, roughly, that voted to leave.
01:37And a lot of people are disappointed with the Brexit we've got. If the vote happened
01:43again and we were going to get this Brexit, I don't think people would vote for it. But
01:47if we were going to get the Brexit that they originally voted for, then I think they would
01:51vote for it.
01:53A key Brexit pledge was tougher border controls. But voters are going to the polls with immigration
01:59at record levels, and party leaders once again vowing to reduce numbers.
02:07I think people were concerned about everybody coming over from abroad without legal papers,
02:15coming over on their boats, and that was one of the main things that they were trying to
02:22stop. But they haven't done that, have they?
02:27London ice cream maker Diego Alfonso set up his business four years before Britain voted
02:33leave. He says post-Brexit border controls have caused delivery delays for imported ingredients,
02:39extra costs and staff shortages. Coupled with COVID lockdowns and the impact of Russia's
02:46invasion of Ukraine on food and energy prices, it has hit the small business hard.
02:52There's been a lot of times that we thought we weren't going to make it. Regardless of
02:59where you come from, we're all humans, you know, and we have to help each other and love
03:03each other. And instead we just close communities and have people like Nigel Farage demonising
03:09immigrants. Immigrants are not the problem. You need to look for the real problem.
03:17Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Keir Starmer and Brexit champion Nigel
03:23Farage of Reform UK have largely avoided mentioning Brexit while on the campaign trail.
03:31Well, I just think that no party's got the answer. You know, Nigel Farage says we've
03:38delivered Brexit, but over to you, you've got to manage it. The government have managed
03:43it very badly, so Brexit's gone wrong. And the Labour, I don't think they want to talk
03:49about it because they don't want to bring it up to put people off voting for them.
03:54Managing Brexit and its impacts will now fall to Britain's next government, despite the
04:00silence from politicians.