How do voters in Suffolk view Brexit five years on?

It has been five years since the Brexit deal was done. In Suffolk nearly 60% of voters backed leaving the EU, so how do leavers and remainers in the county view the deal now?

Once a month the Suffolk Leavers Group gather in Stowmarket. They started meeting six months after the EU referendum vote. They meet in the Wetherspoons where they discuss the progress made since Brexit.

James Spencer, the group organiser who works in IT, believes "we've got a good measure of sovereignty back and I want us to build on that".

John West, a film producer and actor from Framlingham, agrees, saying the sovereignty of parliament is "paramount".

"We got that back and that is the most important thing," he says.

Suffolk businessman Stephen Britt is not as positive. "I don't think we got anywhere near what we wanted. I feel rather let down that we have not been able to go further in extricating ourselves from the EU," he says.

"We have to be on guard for creep back into the EU. We must avoid that at all costs."

The Norwich Road Café in Ipswich is attached to a newly opened imported food and wine store. Both are owned by Jose Camarinha from Portugal.

He has been a business owner in the town for 24 years. Asked how he felt on the fifth anniversary of the Brexit deal he says: "It has changed business and it has become more difficult."

Mr Camarinha has noticed a lot of the Portuguese community in Ipswich have returned home since Brexit. "There are not as many Portuguese people here, you have some in the area, but not like before."

June Mummery from Lowestoft has been a vocal campaigner for Brexit. She was voted in as a Brexit party MEP in the 2019 European elections and is now the party chair for Reform in Lowestoft and Beccles.

"What we have is BRINO - Brexit In Name Only. We still don't have full control of our borders, our laws and waters.

"How can we talk about Brexit when it hasn't been implemented yet?"

Julia Ewart is East Suffolk's Liberal Democrat local chair. During the referendum she campaigned to remain in the EU.

Whatever your views, she says, the Brexit years "must surely be a source of regret to all of us".

"There's simply no sign of the promised sunlit uplands," she adds.

"We must be honest, Brexit caused political chaos, division and upset in our country for years, and however one voted, it surely must be acknowledged that there are few, if any, benefits to leaving the EU.

"We've made our future more difficult, and on the world stage we're alone. It's time to turn the page, as I call for closer ties with the EU."

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