Brexit at 10: TUV says vote remains undelivered as Alliance calls for return to Europe

Ten years after the Brexit referendum reshaped British politics, Northern Ireland remains deeply divided over whether the historic vote has ever truly been delivered.

Marking the 10th anniversary of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) and Alliance Party have set out starkly different visions for Northern Ireland’s future, highlighting how Brexit continues to define political debate across the region.

While the TUV argues Brexit remains unfinished because Northern Ireland is still subject to significant areas of EU law, Alliance has described Brexit as a costly failure that should ultimately be reversed.

The competing statements underline how, a decade after 17.4 million people voted to leave the EU, the arguments over sovereignty, trade, borders and Northern Ireland’s constitutional position remain as contentious as ever.

TUV: Brexit has still not been fully delivered

TUV spokesman Dr Dan Boucher said the 2016 referendum represented the largest democratic vote in UK history and was a vote for the United Kingdom as a whole to leave the European Union.

He argued that Brexit remains incomplete because Northern Ireland continues to operate under a range of EU laws and regulations through the post-Brexit arrangements governing trade and customs.

Dr Boucher said:

“Every single one of the 17.4 million votes cast, regardless of where in the UK they were cast, were votes for the United Kingdom to leave the EU, something that 10 years on, still has not been delivered.”

According to the TUV spokesman, Northern Ireland remains subject to EU law in around 300 areas, creating what he described as a division within the United Kingdom and undermining the UK’s internal market for goods.

He claimed the current arrangements have placed Northern Ireland within the Republic of Ireland and wider EU customs framework while treating Great Britain as a “third country” for certain purposes.

“This humiliation alienates us from ourselves, cutting the United Kingdom into two through the imposition of an international custom and SPS border,” he said.

Dr Boucher also linked the issue to wider political instability across the UK, arguing that a country which allows itself to be divided internally inevitably becomes harder to govern.

Alternative arrangements proposed

The TUV spokesman used the anniversary to promote the European Union Withdrawal Alternative Arrangements Bill, which he said would remove Northern Ireland’s current post-Brexit arrangements and place Brexit on what he described as a more constitutionally stable footing.

He criticised the UK Government’s proposed European Partnership Bill, arguing that it would further entrench Northern Ireland’s relationship with EU law rather than address concerns around internal UK trade barriers.

Concluding his remarks, Dr Boucher said:

“It’s time to get Brexit done.”

Alliance: Brexit has been a ‘lost decade’

Alliance Deputy Leader Eóin Tennyson MLA used the anniversary to deliver a dramatically different assessment of Brexit’s legacy.

The Upper Bann MLA described the last decade as a period of economic damage, political instability and declining living standards, arguing that the promises made during the referendum campaign had failed to materialise.

“A decade on from the vote to leave the EU, it is clear Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster and the biggest act of self-sabotage in UK history,” he said.

“The architects and cheerleaders of Brexit claimed it would grow the economy and cut bills for ordinary families, but instead it is costing us £90 billion every year. That is money that is being cut from public services or taken out of people’s pockets through record high taxes.”

Mr Tennyson said businesses and households had endured a decade of economic hardship while Brexit had also contributed to wider political turmoil.

He pointed to repeated changes in UK leadership since the referendum and criticised the impact Brexit had on devolved politics in Northern Ireland.

“Brexit has also brought chaos and instability to our politics, with the DUP using it as an excuse to collapse Stormont, and seven Prime Ministers going through the revolving door of Downing Street,” he said.

Call for closer UK-EU ties

Looking ahead, Alliance is advocating closer economic integration with Europe and ultimately supports reversing Brexit altogether.

Mr Tennyson argued that re-entering the EU Single Market and Customs Union would remove barriers to trade and help stimulate economic growth.

“Only a full reversal of Brexit will undo all the challenges it has created, however, and Alliance wants to get to that rejoin position at the earliest opportunity,” he said.

The party says public attitudes towards Brexit have shifted over the past decade and believes the case for rebuilding closer ties with Europe is becoming stronger.

A debate that continues to shape Northern Ireland

The 2016 referendum may now be a decade in the past, but the arguments it unleashed continue to shape politics in Northern Ireland more than almost any other issue.

For the TUV, Brexit remains unfinished and Northern Ireland’s current arrangements represent a failure to honour the referendum result.

For Alliance, Brexit itself was the mistake and the long-term solution lies in rebuilding closer ties with Europe.

Ten years after voters made their choice, Northern Ireland remains at the centre of a debate that shows little sign of ending, with profoundly different views on what Brexit means, whether it has succeeded and what should happen next.