Protests and demands for the UK to rejoin the EU are growing steadily in the UK, where most are saying Brexit has failed.
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00:00 In the UK, there's consistent growth in the number of people who say they regret Brexit.
00:05 Around 62% of Britons believe leaving the EU is a failure, according to the UK polling
00:10 company YouGov. Food prices have risen 25% from January 2021, a consequence of the extra
00:16 trade barriers from leaving the single market. Meanwhile, researchers at the Centre for European
00:21 Reform say business investment was 23% lower than it would have been in 2021 due to Brexit.
00:28 Rejoiners say the public is ahead of politicians in calling for the UK to rejoin the EU.
00:34 I think it's the reality of the cost of living crisis that people who may have been wrapped
00:39 up in the ideology, the debates that we had six years, seven years ago about all that
00:46 sovereignty stuff, Britain standing on its own, all that sort of stuff, have just come
00:50 face to face with the fact that there are more important things in life. Can you feed
00:53 your kids? Right now, half of low-income families in the UK are skipping meals to feed their
00:58 kids. We cannot afford Brexit. If we can't afford food, we can't afford Brexit.
01:03 But the process in joining the EU is deeply complex. Moreover, there's no precedent for
01:07 a country rejoining, and the EU has changed significantly since the UK voted to leave
01:12 in 2016. Meanwhile, there are several other countries waiting in the wings, including
01:18 Ukraine, as well as countries in the Western Balkans. However, it can be said that the
01:23 UK side has decided to have a more pragmatic, closer relationship with Brussels in recent
01:28 months, including when the British rejoined the EU's Horizon Science programme.
01:36 First and foremost, we'll be talking about an entirely new discussion. It will not be
01:42 about a possible UK rejoining on past terms. And then I think there's a very interesting
01:49 point you're pointing to, which is the EU is in an enlargement process now, not only
01:54 about the Western Balkans, it's also about Ukraine, it's also about Moldova and potentially
01:59 beyond. And that is, in itself, a very big challenge to the EU.
02:05 Meanwhile, there's no appetite currently for politicians on either side, either the UK
02:10 or the EU, to reopen what was a deeply corrosive debate. Polls show a strong outlook for a
02:15 Labour-led government in the UK in the next year. However, its leader Keir Starmer has
02:20 ruled out a return to the EU. Shona Murray, Euronews, Brussels.
02:24 (whooshing)