EU claims UK voters 'misled' on Brexit

UK voters did not understand what they were voting for when they backed Brexit in 2016, said the European Parliament on Wednesday.

The claim was made in a report about the process of exiting the bloc, triggering backlash from Brexit-backing politicians who insisted voters made their marks with eyes wide-open.

The report on Article 50, a clause which outlines the process through which member nations can leave the bloc, included a claim that the EU could have swung the result in 2016 in favor of the United Kingdom remaining a member.

"British citizens had scant knowledge about the European Union and were not adequately informed about the far-reaching consequences of the decision to leave the union," it said.

The Telegraph reported on Thursday that an unnamed UK government source said the EU should stop criticizing UK voters for taking "a legitimate decision" to "take back control from Brussels".

"Being lectured on transparency by the European Parliament shows just how little many in the EU have learned from Brexit," the source said.

The EU report also claimed the bloc triumphed in negotiations about a divorce agreement and said the UK government was ill-prepared for life outside the EU.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament supported the document by a majority of 516 votes.

MEPs also agreed to make it harder for nations to leave in future, with any referendums being nonbinding and subject to a confirmatory vote if the two sides fail to agree a divorce deal.

The Daily Express said the report conveyed regret that the EU did not actively try to persuade UK voters to vote to remain within the bloc.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was a leader of the campaign to take the UK out of the EU and now Britain's Brexit opportunities minister, told the BBC that the nation made the right decision.

He also insisted plummeting export volumes have more to do with the coronavirus pandemic than the extra taxes and red tape businesses are encountering.

However, the Office for Budget Responsibility disagreed, saying that Brexit had clearly dented UK trade.

Since leaving the EU's single market in January 2021, UK exports to the EU have fallen by 12 percent and imports have fallen by 20 percent.