Politics

Brexit voter says he’s messed up his son’s future by backing Leave

A Brexit voter has expressed remorse over backing the Leave campaign in 2016, saying he’s probably messed up his son’s future by doing so.

Speaking to the i newspaper, Barny Gazey, 49, said he has had many regrets since voting out in the referendum.

“Most of us were just conned. Conned into thinking we could have a better future: one in which there was more investment in Britain and more investment in jobs and apprenticeships. We were promised the earth”, he said.

Promises Boris Johnson made to increase apprenticeships and train people in emerging sectors appealed to him, particularly as his son, who was 17 at the time, was going through college.

“It was a huge mistake”, he added, saying his son is now without a job.

“With seven years of hindsight, Brexit was more about putting sanctions on ourselves. It was never about investing in our workforce. It was about stricter police enforcement and stricter immigration”, he added.

Gazey was working managing cargo at a local airport at the time.

Up until 31 January, they were managing 60,000 packages to Europe a night. On 1st February, after the UK officially left the EU, they did just 2,000 packages.

“In just 24 hours, things fell off a cliff. I couldn’t believe it.

“Now I am worried for my children. Thinking about what we had then and what we have now is soul-destroying. There is nothing here to inspire them. There are no benefits for them here.”

Related: No 10 forced to correct tweet after forgetting we’re no longer in EU

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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Tags: Brexit