Right-Wing Media Watch: Ten years on, the Express is still fighting the last Brexit war

Ten years after the fateful EU referendum, the Daily Express marked the anniversary with the mother of front pages.

“Express crusade: Give us a proper Brexit,” read the headline above an image of the White Cliffs of Dover, a familiar piece of Brexit-cheerleading symbolism, likely a reference to the small boats issue that continues to dominate much of the paper’s coverage.

The front page continued:

“Today marks 10 years since Britain voted to leave the EU. As Starmer finally falls on his sword and Britain faces a lurch to the left under Burnham we call for politicians to finally believe in Brexit and deliver the will of the people.”

Readers were invited to turn inside for a “Brexit anniversary and PM resigns special.”

It really does show how detached the Express remains from the national conversation surrounding Brexit a decade on.

While newspapers, commentators and policy experts spent the anniversary assessing Brexit’s real-world consequences, the Express was determined to relive the political battles of 2016. Its demand for a “proper Brexit” rested on a familiar argument, that Brexit itself has not failed, but rather that politicians have failed to implement it.

The problem is that this narrative is that it painfully collides with both evidence and public opinion.

Across much of the political and economic spectrum, there’s broad recognition that Brexit has imposed crippling costs on the British economy. Economists estimate that our departure from the EU is costing taxpayers across the country £90 billion every year, through lower trade, weaker investment and reduced economic growth.

Research has consistently shown that Brexit has substantially reduced UK-EU trade in both goods and services. Areas that voted heavily to leave have seen outcomes that diverge from the promises made during the referendum campaign. Many have experienced increased economic deprivation, while foreign worker numbers in Brexit-supporting regions have continued to grow faster than expected, undermining the claim that leaving the EU would dramatically reduce immigration.

And the consequences extend far beyond headline economic figures. The NHS has struggled with the loss of many EU workers. Musicians and performers face new barriers to touring across Europe. Families have absorbed higher food prices and increased costs. Young people have lost opportunities that previous generations took for granted, from educational exchanges to freedom of movement. British retirees living in Europe have found themselves navigating restrictions that didn’t exist before Brexit.

Yet none of this appeared to trouble the Express’s anniversary edition.

Nor was there any acknowledgment of the growing body of polling suggesting the country has moved on and is a world apart from demanding a harder version of it.

Surveys published around the anniversary found that a majority of Britons now believe leaving the EU was a mistake. Other polling showed that most Generation Z voters would support a vote to rejoin the EU. A separate poll showed two-thirds believe immigration has worsened since Brexit. A further survey found that ten years after Brexit vote and majority of Britains say leaving the EU was a mistake, and another showed two-thirds of EU citizens back UK rejoining bloc.

It’s a weary old tactic. Rather than examining why so many promises failed to materialise, the Express reverted to the familiar formula of blaming politicians, insisting Brexit has never truly been tried, and demanding more of the same.

The Express may still be fighting the Brexit battles of 2016. Most of the country, however, has most certainly moved on.