Citizen journalists in the UK have compiled a staggering dossier detailing the fallout of Brexit. The dossier lists over 2,000 negative impacts stemming from the decision to leave the European Union, set against 39 positive outcomes. This stark contrast highlights how deeply the controversial 2016 referendum continues to divide public opinion and policy alike.

That narrowly passed referendum led Britain to sever its ties with the EU, a relationship that has often been thorny since the UK first joined the bloc in the 1970s. Yet nearly a decade later, the specter of Brexit remains a source of national discord, with persistent calls for a second referendum—a move some believe could rewrite the country’s trajectory.

This long-standing tension resurfaced recently when UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy attended the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg. Lammy lauded the gathering, which saw him exchange views with European ministers on shared security challenges, as a “historic moment.” His appearance, the first by a British foreign minister at the council in two years, is a significant step in rebuilding trust.

Lammy’s visit and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recent trip to Brussels signal what many interpret as a concerted attempt by Starmer’s Labour government to “reset” relations with the EU. Starmer has repeatedly pledged to move beyond Brexit, intending to create a relationship that works for British citizens and aligns with national interests.

While high-level diplomatic gestures dominate headlines, the tangible consequences of Brexit continue to unfold. Yorkshire Bylines, a UK-based citizen journalism outlet, has become a prominent voice cataloging these effects. Their “David Downside Dossier” meticulously chronicles Brexit’s ongoing impact, from the immediate aftermath to long-term repercussions.

Little known outside of Britain, David Davis is a former government minister in the UK who famously and enthusiastically championed the idea of Brexit for years. He was contacted for comment but did not reply.

Anthony Robinson leads the project and acknowledges that some early post-Brexit hurdles have been smoothed over. However, the dossier—updated frequently and spans thousands of entries—argues that a host of unresolved challenges still impede businesses, citizens, and even UK-EU relations. Last updated on September 26, the document reveals a grim picture of Brexit’s evolving realities.

Anthony Robinson readily concedes that some of the “issues” that arose after Brexit have now been “ironed out.”

Robinson explains, “We first began to systematically log the downsides. It was to show that those at the forefront of Brexit – particularly David Davis himself – who threw accusations of scaremongering at anyone who opposed them, had no evidence to support their often-wild assertions and little idea what they – or more accurately, we – were embarking on.”

He further explains, “The dossier is a clear record of the damage inflicted by Brexit, but also a monument to the colossal ignorance of the EU and the single market by those who recklessly took Britain over a cliff in 2016. The dossier adds ‘a word of caution,’ saying ‘it is not, and has never pretended to be, a reference work on Brexit.’ We leave that for the historians of the future. We have simply culled items that have appeared in the news that seemed to us to be downsides.”

The dossier adds that Brexit has become too real for many UK companies, with “unwelcome” hurdles to doing business in Europe. It says that eight years after the vote to quit, the ripples caused by Brexit continue to be felt.

For example, it highlights the UK’s new Border Target Operating Model, a policy to govern goods imports from the EU. While intended to streamline processes, the policy is anticipated to disrupt already complex supply chains, adding friction, costs, and delays. An exodus of EU lorry drivers in the transport and logistics sector has left Britain facing acute shortages. The dossier warns that this crisis threatens industrial and retail deliveries nationwide.

The dossier also sheds light on the challenges faced by British manufacturers, particularly in defense. Arms exporters, it claims, are plagued by delays tied to Brexit-induced red tape. The UK’s global reputation as a hub for entrepreneurship has also taken a hit, with rankings slipping due to reduced infrastructure investment, tightened immigration policies, and excessive bureaucracy.

Other sectors are similarly affected. A report by Durham University links Brexit to the escalating small boat crisis in the English Channel, noting that the UK previously had agreements to return migrants to the EU, which ceased with Brexit. The study identifies a correlation between the termination of these deals and the spike in small boat crossings, an issue largely absent before 2018.

Agriculture and food security have also borne the brunt. Farming and veterinary organizations warn that delays in implementing import checks on EU goods could lead to widespread disruptions. The dossier notes a decline in the variety and quantity of homegrown products on British supermarket shelves, attributing these changes to Brexit’s complex regulations.

Commenting on the dossier, senior Member of the European Parliament David McAllister, who chairs its influential Foreign Affairs Committee, said the dossier “underlines what has been clear all along: Brexit was, is and will always remain a historic mistake that left both the EU and particularly the UK worse off.”

McAllister adds, “For instance, there is still no formalized cooperation between the UK and the EU on foreign, security, and defense policy. At a time of growing geopolitical tensions, the European Commission and the new UK government should work closely to improve this. I welcome Starmer’s work towards resetting our relations. Still, his government must provide more details on how they intend to reshape the EU-UK relationship.”

Sir Graham Watson, a former senior UK Liberal Democrat MEP and professed Europhile, has said, “David Davis is among the many Tories who share responsibility for the ongoing disaster of Brexit. The loss of our rights as EU citizens, the fettering of our freedom to live and work on the continent, the red tape and extra business costs, and now the tax rises in Labour’s first budget can all be traced back to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.”

Former UK MEP Edward McMillan-Scott, one of the longest-serving Vice Presidents of the European Parliament, suggests, “David Davis was an avid Brexiter all the time I knew him. He is a personable man and is not, as once described by Dominic Cummings, ‘thick as mince.’ Still, he made no progress with that experienced politician Michel Barnier when negotiating aspects of Brexit.”

Further reaction comes from Denis MacShane, a former UK Europe Minister under Tony Blair, who believes the dossier “exposes in pitiless detail the damage cutting links with Europe has done to our country. The liars in government 2016-2024 who promised us Brexit have now been driven from office, never to return.”

Lord (Richard) Balfe, a former British MEP now sitting in the House of Lords, also made the following remarks. “[The dossier] is a long and depressing list of all the problems leaving the EU has brought us. It was never going to be as simple as was pretended. I remember the £350 million a week for the NHS, which never materialized, and the shiny new trade deal with the United States, now forgotten. You can rewrite history as the Brexiteers have tried to, but you cannot rewrite your geography.”

Balfe added, “Only the Liberal Democrats, not my party, have a positive attitude to the EU. If the two major parties are not careful, they will find that all informed opinion has deserted them, and they can find solace with each other on the beach at Clacton.”

Education is another area where Brexit’s impact is glaringly visible. EU student enrollment at UK universities dropped by 56 percent in the 2021–2022 academic year, attributed to soaring tuition fees and bureaucratic hurdles. Meanwhile, the much-touted Turing Scheme, designed to replace the EU’s Erasmus+ exchange program, has been hampered by delays and red tape. As programs once funded by EU grants shutter, educational institutions struggle to adapt.

Adding to the irony, applications from EU students to Irish universities have tripled since 2016, highlighting Britain’s growing isolation within the broader European academic network.

The Yorkshire Bylines dossier underscores Brexit’s myriad challenges, with its authors predicting that the list of grievances will only grow. Yet, the debate over Brexit’s long-term merits remains alive. Pieter Cleppe, Editor-in-Chief of BrusselsReport.eu, offers a measured perspective, suggesting that Brexit comes with both costs and benefits. Cleppe argues that Britain’s newfound independence allows for opportunities that might emerge, even if the price has been steep.

“The costs are obvious and mostly relate to extra friction in trade between the UK and the EU. The benefits are less obvious, but they are material: Britain can now independently close trade deals. It hasn’t had much success here, apart from the great achievement of accessing the CPTPP transpacific trade arrangement. Britain has not exploited the opportunity to have a bonfire of EU regulations, so it has missed out on this Brexit benefit. Still, it is unlikely to copy all of the new, innovation-hostile regulations the EU continues to churn out, both in the digital and energy sphere,” Cleppe added.

“Regarding energy policy, the UK remains firmly on the same line as the EU, supporting unreliable renewables. When this appears to have failed, it will be easier for the UK to implement changes than it would have been as a member of the EU. In that sense, the benefits of Brexit will only be visible after a long time. In an ideal world, the UK would have stayed in the EU, but then a reformed EU, focused on scrapping trade barriers and not micromanaging society,” Cleppe observed.

Whatever the perspective, Brexit has undoubtedly become one of the most polarizing political decisions of the modern era. It remains a gift that keeps giving—for better or worse—to the media as the aftershocks ripple across Britain and the EU.