What Went Wrong With Brexit — and What Should Come Next

Brexit was sold as a moment of national recovery: more control, cleaner regulation, faster growth, and a sharper global role. Nearly a decade after the 2016 referendum, the debate has become less about slogans and more about delivery. The question is no longer just whether Britain left the European Union, but whether it used that freedom well.

The Telegraph’s argument is that Brexit did not automatically promise prosperity, but offered opportunities that were not properly seized. That view now sits alongside a harder economic record: the Office for Budget Responsibility still assumes Brexit will reduce UK trade intensity enough to lower long-run productivity by 4% compared with remaining in the EU.