Brexit toll? Brits think UK less important than other nations in the world
Brits are trailing behind in the league of populations who think their country is gaining importance on the world stage, new research has found. That is partially due to some UK groups thinking less of Britain post-Brexit.
According to a new poll by the Pew Research Centre, Russian, Indians and Germans are the ones most prone to think their country is increasingly gaining a stand in the world.
Up to 72 percent of Russians, for example think their country plays a more important role in the world compared to other countries, while in India and Germany the figure is 56 and 51 percent respectively.
Share in each country who say their nation plays a more important role in the world today compared with 10 years ago: 🇷🇺Russia 72%🇮🇳India 56%🇩🇪Germany 51%🇺🇸U.S. 31%🇫🇷France 26%🇬🇧UK 23%https://t.co/r48UzIWYL9pic.twitter.com/Ph9VP8FM5r
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) November 12, 2018
That is considerably more compared to the median 41 percent recorded across the 25 other countries surveyed.
By contrast, only 23 percent of Brits feel like the former glorious empire is bound to be of more relevance than other countries.
Those supportive of Britain’s Conservatives or right-wing party Ukip were more likely, at 27 and 25 percent respectively, to have a positive opinion on their country’s stand in the world.
By contrast, those who support the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats increasingly believe, at 42 and 40 percent respectively, the UK’s role in the world has declined.
The study also found that the amount of Labour supporters doubting their country’s potential in the future increased post-Brexit.
Those who supported Ukip, the party which spearheaded the Brexit campaign, however, are much less likely now to see their country as going downhill than they were before the EU referendum in 2016.
The spike in Labour supporters having a pessimistic view about their country post-Brexit comes as the country is in turmoil over the government’s much-fraught efforts to hammer out a deal with the EU over the terms by which the UK should crash out of the bloc.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet is due to discuss later on Wednesday a draft withdrawal agreement reached between the two sides.
The agreement was much-delayed because of various points of contention, mainly how to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland.
If the cabinet does agree on the agreement, it is bound to trigger an emergency EU summit, most likely on November 25, where the deal will be sealed.
Discontent at May’s negotiating plan prompted the resignation of a string of cabinet ministers, including former Foreign Secretary and vehement Vote Leave supporter Boris Johnson and former Brexit Secretary David Davis. They raised concern the UK was giving too much way for the EU to demand more concessions, risking becoming an EU colony.
But it prompted resignations on the other side of the spectrum too, as pro-Remain transport minister Jo Johnson, Boris’ brother, also announced his resignation earlier this year.
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