Brexit vote: Fed-up Portsmouth residents label Britain’s EU exit fiasco a shambles

BREXIT has been a complete shambles.
Prime Minister Theresa May speaks after the government's withdrawal agreement was voted down for the third time in the House of Commons. Picture: House of Commons/PA WirePrime Minister Theresa May speaks after the government's withdrawal agreement was voted down for the third time in the House of Commons. Picture: House of Commons/PA Wire
Prime Minister Theresa May speaks after the government's withdrawal agreement was voted down for the third time in the House of Commons. Picture: House of Commons/PA Wire

That's the view of residents in Portsmouth who are ‘fed up’ with Britain’s chaotic attempt to cut ties with the European Union.

The comments come on the day the UK was finally meant to leave the EU following almost three years of talks since the historic 2016 referendum.

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The Prime Minister had offered to stand down as Conservative Party leader earlier this week if MPs backed her deal, but the promise was not enough to win the vote.

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This is what Portsmouth area MPs said about an ‘unhelpful day’ for Brexit

This defeat gives the UK two weeks until April 12 to ask Brussels for a further extension to Brexit negotiations - which would require it to take part in May's elections to the European Parliament - or leave the EU without a deal.

After the vote we went out onto the streets of Portsmouth to ask people what they thought about the latest setback for the government.

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Luke Martin-Jones, 47, of Fratton, said Britain should have left the EU yesterday – regardless of what ‘overpaid MPs think’’, adding: ‘Parliament has set a dangerous precedent. People will only take so much. The whole process has been a shambles from beginning to end. Leave means leave.’

While Steve Jones, 33, of Baffins, felt people at the ‘extreme ends’ of the political spectrum were ‘dominating the debate’, while the views of the common person were getting sidelined.

He said: ‘Regardless of your position on leave or remain, politicians have been an absolute embarrassment in their inability to work together to achieve the absolute best possible outcome.

‘Both major parties are completely divided on a difficult issue but what is being completely neglected are the huge and diverse opinions regular people have on the issue.

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People at the extreme ends of the spectrum are dominating the debate and common people on both sides are being ignored.’

Sean Gall, 58, Cosham: We should have left today. I would have still liked the deal today to have gone through. The majority of MPs want to stay.’

A 52-year-old from Fratton, who asked not be named, has been left frustrated by the whole process. He said: ‘It is just an absolute shambles. Rightly or wrongly, the country decided to leave and the government and the opposition have failed to work together to deliver the result.

‘No-one has come out of this with any honour. No-one knows what is going on and frankly I am just bored and fed up of the whole thing.’