In a poll that ran from 9am to 4pm on Thursday, March 3, Express.co.uk asked its readers: “Do you think Brexit contributed to the invasion of Ukraine?” A total of 3,649 people cast their votes, with a lively debate on the topic held in the comments section below the accompanying article.
Overwhelmingly, voters said “no”, they don’t think Brexit is to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with 92 percent (3,375 people) choosing that option.
Just seven percent (258 people) said yes, and 16 more said they just did not know.
In the comments left below the poll, readers expressed a mix of frustration and incredulity that Brexit was being blamed for the current crisis.
Some left amusingly sarcastic responses.
Username Will-I am Not quipped: “Lol! I think if two planets collided they’d find a way to blame it on Brexit.”
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The poll came off the back of comments made by some analysts that Putin “used” the UK’s departure from the EU to “destabilise” the West.
Science and politics author Marcus Chown told his nearly 50,000 Twitter followers that there was a direct link between Brexit and the conflict.
He said: “Unfortunately, a vote for Brexit was a vote for Putin to invade Ukraine because it weakened the Western alliance and emboldened Putin.”
Former civil servant Siobhan Benita made a similar argument suggesting it was a “shame that all those patriots who voted for Brexit didn’t ask a few more questions about why Russia was so keen for the UK to leave the European Union”.
And Journalist John Nicholson, writing for Football 365 this week, argued that Putin had used such tactics alongside manipulating Donald Trump and Brexit to reach his goals, suggesting that the referendum has in part played a role in today’s war.
Talking about the UK Government, Mr Nicholson wrote: “Pity they did not think that super-wealthy foreign nationals, oligarchs, sheikhs and states owning our football clubs and much of the infrastructure and utilities of this country was actually surrendering our nation to powers who do not have our best interests at heart.
“Vladimir Putin wanted to destabilise and weaken the EU and he used Brexit and Donald Trump to do it.
“It made Putin’s self-belief stronger. Look at how he could manipulate the western fools. Now look where that has led.”
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