ALMOST half of Leave voters in Brighton and Hove have buyer’s remorse over their decision 12 months on, an Argus straw poll has received.

Eleven out of 24 Leave voters The Argus spoke to yesterday revealed they would vote differently if the referendum was held today.

Today marks the first anniversary of the historic referendum vote which saw the UK vote to leave the EU.

This week, initial talks began on a deal for the UK’s exit from the EU in 2019. To mark the anniversary, The Argus conducted a street poll of more than 100 residents, with 24 saying they had voted Leave last June and 87 had voted Remain.

Last summer, Brighton and Hove was one of four Sussex districts to vote Remain with 69 per cent of voters wanting to remain in the EU.

Of those polled yesterday, 13 Leave voters said they would vote Leave again as well as one solitary Remain voter.

The remaining 86 Remain voters said their mind had not been changed in the past 12 months but 11 Leave voters indicated they would vote Remain if given the chance again.

The city’s pro-EU stance is in sharp contrast to the rest of the country where a YouGov poll in March indicated 70 per cent of people want Brexit to go ahead although in the same poll 43 per cent considered Brexit a mistake.

A Survation poll this week indicated that 53 per cent of voters now wanted a second Referendum on the terms of the final Brexit deal.

This Saturday, Brighton and Hove for Europe has organised an anniversary gathering at The Peace Statue in Hove. Organisers said a year on the people of Brighton and Hove have spoken and still say no to Brexit.

The event is being billed as a protest to tell the Government that the best deal for this country is to remain a member of the European Union with participants encouraged to bring EU flags, national flags, rainbow flags, banners, placards and anything blue.

A spokeswoman said: “The last year has been full of disappointment and determination, victories and setbacks, confusion and resolve but as we prepare to mark the first anniversary of the EU referendum we are filled with a new hope that the historic mistake of Brexit can be stopped.

“There never was a mandate for May’s form of Brexit and her approach must now be consigned to history. The people of Brighton and Hove and the UK as a whole have demonstrated their rejection of Theresa May’s Brexit vision at the polls. Both ‘Hard Brexit’ and Theresa May’s ‘deal or no deal’ proposals must be binned, and we believe that Brexit should be halted altogether.”

Predictably for such a pro-EU city, residents in our poll had very dim hopes for the country’s prospects when Brexit is enacted in 2019.

Fewer than 20 per cent of residents thought the UK would be better off after Brexit.

Similarly, in a city that gave Labour its biggest swing of this month’s General Election returning MPs Peter Kyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle with huge majorities, more than three-quarters favoured Jeremy Corbyn to get the best Brexit deal with just 26 residents favouring Theresa May.

DO YOU STAND BY YOUR POSITION A YEAR ON?

The Argus ask eight prominent members of either side of the Brexit vote for their views a year on from the historic vote to leave the European Union.

CAROLINE LUCAS

A YEAR on from the referendum and the process is in chaos.

Not only is Britain’s future being negotiated by a Government who have just had their majority wiped out but the ministers in charge continue to wave around the threat of “no deal”, which would have devastating consequences.

Despite widespread opposition, the Government has steadfastly refused to guarantee EU citizens their rights and this week they’ve shown their disregard for the environment as they published a Queen’s Speech with no specific plans for environmental protection in the Brexit process.

Amid such chaos there is, however, a glimmer of hope.

MPs from all parties are working together to stop an extreme Brexit.

Labour’s position seems to be softening, and it looks likely that the Scottish Parliament will have a say on the final deal too.

With such political instability here at home, and a growing sense among the public that people deserve a final say on any deal, it seems that everything is up for grabs.

The Government has no mandate for pushing ahead with an extreme Brexit, that’s why Greens are calling for a cross-party commission on Brexit to ensure that voices from across the political spectrum are heard in the process.

  • Caroline Lucas is co-leader of the Green Party and Brighton Pavilion MP

RORY BROOMFIELD

I SEE no sense of buyer’s remorse through the population as a whole.

A recent YouGov poll showed that 70 per cent think the Government should go ahead with Brexit, with a majority of this population being supporters of it.

Given both this and my continuing conversations on the subject with both supporters and non- supporters alike, I feel the situation is clear.

Further, Article 50 has been invoked and more than 80 per cent of MPs in the new Parliament support leaving the EU Single Market.

With both this and the change in Government policy since David Cameron left Number 10, I have even more confidence in the UK’s stance going into negotiations with the EU compared with one year ago.

It means the likelihood of a deal has increased, though there is still a chance of no deal. What it really comes down to is how sensible the EU is going to be.

There currently seems to be agreement between the UK and the EU on the direction of travel but leaving the EU with no deal would be no disaster as no deal is still better than a bad deal. I don’t see a change of government adding anything positive to the equation.

  • Rory Broomfield is director of centre-right pressure group The Freedom Association

MIKE GLENNON

A WEEK’S a long time in politics – so how about a year?

Well, on the first anniversary of the UK independence referendum, progress is looking goodish with Article 50 invoked and a Prime Minister magically awakened to the need for British self-determination.

But what about the uncertainty, I hear the Remainiacs muttering?

Well, truth is we never have certainty in our futures, not as individuals, not as households, not even countries. The world could be hit by a large asteroid tomorrow.

What strikes me, however, is the uncertainty of remaining shackled to the EU empire, which is declining rapidly in terms of world trade, dependent on a central currency doomed to fail and a form of governance oblivious to democratic accountability.

I’m also uncertain about Britain being dragged in to future military adventures in a lethally dangerous world, which the emerging EU militia may well engage in. We’ve already seen them merrily baiting the Russian bear.

I don’t like the uncertainty of Britain not having its own seat at the World Trade Organisation and thus able to engage directly with the vast commercial opportunities in the rapidly developing countries, such as India and the rest of the Commonwealth.

One thing I am certain about, though, is that self-determination reduces uncertainty. And thanks to Ukip we are going to have self-determination again.

  • Mike Glennon is Ukip West Sussex chairman

PETER KYLE

WHAT comes after Brexit will be exactly the same as went before.

Those are the words of Brexit Secretary in the House of Commons before Christmas. Now he’s facing the EU negotiating team and the impossible reality of the corner he and other Brexiteers have painted themselves into with undeliverable promises like that and the extra £350 per week for our struggling NHS.

For Government to come back with anything less would mean committing the greatest fraud in British history.

From the money we earn to the air we breath right through to the food we eat, everything will change as a result of Brexit. The only question is how it will change and if what comes next is better or worse. For each of these areas, Government are unable to offer us one single guarantee and for most they can’t even offer an aspiration.

Considering the governor of the Bank of England just said that incomes will drop after Brexit, it does seem reasonable to ask what benefit we will get from Brexit that outweighs the harm becoming poorer will do to us.

The most sensible alternative, which is seeking compromises on freedom of movement and powers of the European Court of Justice, were taken off the table on day one. They need to be put back onto the agenda to deliver an offer to the British people that is new, workable, and saves our nation from the damage that a botched Brexit will do to each of us and our communities.

SIR ANDREW BOWDEN

THE result then was a clear majority, not a very big majority, but a clear one.

Now I think a lot of people are thinking more deeply about the consequences and the whole range of issues of a Europe that is becoming closer and closer together.

Not a day goes by without some senior European figure calling for greater fiscal control, a European army or foreign policy.

I think it is inevitable there will always be a divide between Remain and Leave voters. There are people who hold very passionate and sincere beliefs like Ken Clarke and Peter Mandelson who believe we should go as a fully integrated part of the EU but I think they are a 25 per cent minority who really want to see that.

When the two years are up, we could be in a position of being out but with no agreement in place. That could be the situation, though I don’t want that to happen because that would be the hardest of hard Brexits.

The result of the General Election makes it much more difficult to get a good and satisfactory settlement, Europe is very worried and not quite sure where the country stands and where the political climate is going to take us. But I still stand by the decision to come out for the futures of our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I don’t want the UK to be part of the United States of Europe.

  • Sir Andrew Bowden was the Vote Leave Brighton and Hove president

STEPHEN LLOYD

THE mood music is changing and what we need to see whether that is window dressing or whether the minority Conservative Government are ready to listen to more people, different parties and the general public to bring a more consensual approach to the Brexit talks.

If they are, then there could be some real progress but if they are not we they could be heading for a fall some time later.

It is clear from polls, though I am a Remainer myself, that the public still want Brexit.

What has changed with the Tories failing to win an overwhelming mandate is that we are now moving towards a more sensible and conciliatory Brexit and moving away from the cliff- edge hard Brexit that was being proposed.

Theresa May’s position as a strong leader who was going to demand her terms would not have worked, it was us against 27 leaders.

Now I think she will be much more likely to work with our partners in Europe, some who have been our allies for over 50 years and some for more than 100 years and I would like to see us working in a more conciliatory manner with Europe.

  • Stephen Lloyd is Eastbourne’s Lib Dem MP

TOM BEWICK

I’M MORE convinced than ever the historic vote to leave the EU was the right long-term decision for our country.

You only have to look at developments in the EU over the last 12 months to see the vote has had little impact on their grand imperial project.

For me, the UK leaving the EU, was always about bequeathing to our grandchildren a more globally outward looking nation that has control of its own laws, borders, taxation and trade.

I believe the British people overwhelmingly endorse such a vision. There is no doubt anti-democratic forces are already hard at work to try and thwart Brexit.

The European Commission is fearful of an even more dynamic British economy emerging while MPs like Caroline Lucas have never accepted the result and seek to keep Britain in the single market, which in practical terms, is the EU by another name.

I’m confident we will leave with a sensible free trade agreement in place.

Once all the posturing is over, political leaders on both sides of the Channel will ultimately agree that it is in the interests of everyone to seal a deal that maximises prosperity across the continent.

I would like to see Labour lead the negotiations and take over from this weak and unstable Government as soon as possible.

It is clear from the recent Labour manifesto Jeremy Corbyn now fully supports Brexit and would take the country out of the EU, the single market and the customs union.

The stark truth is popular Labour policies like nationalisations and the abolition of university tuition fees, are neither deliverable or affordable if we were to stay inside the EU.

  • Tom Bewick was the Vote Leave Brighton and Hove chairman

SADIQ KHAN

I HAVE said all along I accept the verdict of the British public to leave the EU.

What I don’t accept is that the British public voted to make us poorer and for successive generations to be poorer.

The Prime Minister has got to wake up and smell the coffee, which is the result of the General Election.

The British public have rejected the Tory extreme hard Brexit.

The British public want a Brexit deal that doesn’t make us poorer.

That means access to the single market.

That means a continued ability to attract talent.

That means maintaining a customs union.

If we become poorer because of the way the Government negotiates the EU exit – if we don’t have access to the single market, if we can’t attract talent, if we aren’t members of the customs union – we will be poorer and the Government will have ignored the general election result.

I want membership of the single market, if we can’t get that, of course, access.

  • Sadiq Khan is the Mayor of London