For better or worse? Mansfield shoppers and Chad readers weigh in with post-Brexit thoughts

Brexit was a term which marked the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on January 31, 2020.

The UK is the only sovereign country to have left the EU, as on June 24, 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union.

National results saw 51.89 per cent of voters wanting to leave, with 48.11 per cent voting to remain – although it was more clearcut in Mansfield and Ashfield.

In Mansfield, 70.9 per cent votes were in favour, with just 29.1 per cent remain, while in the Ashfield, the split was 69.8 per cent:30.2 per cent to leave.

Seven years on, your Chad headed into Mansfield town centre to see if people felt the UK had benefited from Brexit or not.

Martin Irvinn felt the UK was worse off since leaving the EU.

He said: “It’s just a colossal mistake and worries that people have been used and abused. The leadership here is nonsense.”

One woman, who voted to leave, said: “I was a Brexiteer, but I am not sure whether we are any better off or not now.”

Commenting on your Chad’s Facebook page – fb.com/mansfieldchad – Ethan Revill said: “Tactics used by the leave campaign were very unethical, often misleading.

“It’s a known fact towards the end of the referendum they overspent.

“If we had another one – with people being told what they’re voting for and no unfair tactics, then the result could be very different.”

However, not all Chad readers agreed.

Pete Bennett said: “People will moan about it. People will always moan about it. People voted for it. Deal with it. Live with it.”

And Polly Parkinson Merifield said: “We are better off out. Why should we let other countries tell us what to do or not to do.

“We voted to be a sovereign country again, so we don't have to be dictated to. We use our rules, our laws. I would still vote out.”