LONDON (AP) — Simon Boyd’s firm makes prefabricated steel structures on the south coast of England and ships them to customers as far away as Ghana and Barbados. Mike Hawes represents Britain’s carmakers as the head of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.The business leaders were on different sides of the debate when Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016. But 10 years later they are both frustrated by Brexit.A decade ago, backers promised that Brexit would be the key to a bright new future where, freed from the edicts of EU bureaucrats, Britain would regain control of its laws and its borders and the economy would boom. But the reality failed to live up to the hype as Britain struggled to adjust to life without unfettered access to the 27-nation free trade bloc and its market of 450 million people.Economic growth is anemic, taxes are high, public services are creaking and successive governments have been unable to stem the flow of migrants who wash up on the English Channel coast in inflatable boats. As a result, it’s not exactly a happy anniversary.
“No, it’s not delivered everything that was said it would deliver on the tin, but it is delivering,” Boyd told The Associated Press. “It’s very sluggish. You only need to look at the statistics to see that.”
