If British voters knew then what they do now, would they have voted for Brexit? This is one of the key points in the call for a second referendum on leaving the European Union as talks reach a crunch stage. Opinion polls suggest that there has been little change, although I suspect that many would have thought back then that Britain would have left the European Union by now. There are signs that the British economy is cooling and fears over Brexit have been blamed because almost two years after the vote no one is too sure what is going to happen.
When the people of Britain voted, did they want a total divorce from the European Union or just some halfhearted deal? Did they want Britain in the single market or out? These are key questions which could be directly related to the future economic health of Britain. If Britain does leave the single market, then it will have at least a short-term hit on the British economy until new trade deals are signed. What concerns me is if Britain says adios to Europe, will it also mean goodbye to the all the foreign car makers which have set up in Britain and export directly to Europe. And of course it is not just car makers. The British cabinet is effectively split. Boris Johnson, the vote leave champion, claims that there will be extra cash for the NHS because no more money will be sent to Brussels. He may be right but he forgot to mention that leaving the European Union is going to cost in excess of 40 billion pounds.