Beyond Brexit: Five Years Later

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What's happening? Britain remains divided on Brexit, and a trade war over sausages may yet be averted. Five years on from the seismic result of the Brexit referendum, the U.K. remains deeply divided over leaving the European Union. That's according to a study by the National Centre for Social Research and written by political scientist John Curtice. The study also found that a repeat vote would yield a narrow preference for staying in the bloc. The argument endures: While hard data now reveals an economic hit from Brexit, some publicly hail the impact of leaving the EU. Far from triggering an exodus of business to rival hubs such as Paris and Frankfurt — as some warned — the Brexit process has coincided with a rise in the buying and selling of currencies and bonds from developing economies through London. That's according to Bank of England data.  There's finally hope that a post-Brexit trade war may be averted. British and European officials are increasingly optimistic that they can strike a truce in the dispute over checks on goods moving into Northern Ireland. Britain has asked Brussels to extend a grace period before a ban comes into force on the sale of chilled meats and fresh sausages into Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. The EU wants to know how Britain would use the extra time. Sausages on display at Hodge's Butchers, who source their meat locally, in Larne, Northern Ireland. Photographer: Paul Faith/Bloomberg After only three weeks in the job, Edwin Poots was ousted as leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, to be replaced by Jeffrey Donaldson. The move was a response to a deal Poots made with the U.K. government and nationalist Sinn Fein to restore the region's power-sharing assembly. Popular British TV shows such as "Doctor Who" and "Top Gear" — valuable U.K. exports — could be streamed less across the EU. That would be the result if the U.K.'s status as "European" is challenged under the bloc's Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which has quotas for local content. Some European Union diplomats have decided there are too many British films and TV shows on the continent's streaming platforms. Negotiations for Britain to join an 11-member trans-Pacific trading bloc formally started. The CPTPP's members include Canada, Japan, Mexico and Australia. It would be a "glittering post-Brexit" prize, according to International Trade Secretary Liz Truss. — Lizzy Burden We aim to keep you up to date on how the U.K. navigates the world after Brexit. Got tips or feedback? Email us at beyondbrexit@bloomberg.net Chart of the Week Five years after the Brexit referendum, U.K. stocks are still lagging major markets around the world. In dollar terms, the FTSE 100 Index is barely above the levels seen before the 2016 vote. The FTSE 250 Index too has fared worse than U.S. and euro-area benchmarks. In the aftermath of the referendum, the U.K. became less attractive to foreign investors, with the country's equities hit by political volatility and big swings in the pound in the transition period. Don't Miss The Bank of England held rates and raised its inflation forecast France narrows gap with U.K. in financial investments City of London drew fewer foreign investors in 2020 London West End landlord says the worst is yet to come U.K. dairy exports to EU plunge 90% as food sales drop Londoner snap up luxury homes with foreigners locked out A local's take: What is it like to visit London right now?  Want to keep up? You can follow us @Brexit on Twitter, and listen to Bloomberg Westminster every weekday. Share Beyond Brexit: Colleagues, friends and family can sign up here. For full EU coverage, try the Brussels Edition. Get More From Bloomberg You can find all of our newsletters here, but here are some we think you'd particularly enjoy: Track trade and the global economy in Supply Lines Follow global politics news and analysis in Balance of Power Get daily insights on climate in the Green Daily Bloomberg is also tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines and mapping the pandemic. Sign up here for our Coronavirus Daily newsletter and here for our podcast. Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and expert analysis.

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