At the time I thought they were the most likely people to get a decent brexit deal
The only decent Brexit deal is to cancel the whole thing and remain a member. The Uk joined the EU BECAUSE IT HAD NO CHOICE. people were just as patriotic then as now, but they knew the empire was finished and the Uk had to be part of a bigger trading block. So thats what they did. It is a total and utter delusion to believe there is any other block we could belong to or any means of replacing the support the EU gives us. People arguing that our trade with the EU is declining are simply pointing out that the UK is steadily becoming lesss competitive than our associates inside the EU. Just how is that going to play if we leave it? There are lots of things wrong with the Uk, and nonea re caused by the EU.
For example,
1)Inadequate taxes on companies. This means a grater share of wealth is ending up in the hands of owners of companies and not workers. this is bad on grounds of justice, but also on economic grounds. If all the money goes to few, the majority have none with which to buy goods and the economy cannot function. Oddly, giving money to the poor makes everyone richer.
2)Government policy to give away money to companies has been accompanied by a collapse in the power of unions, so they cannot stand up for the needs of the workers. Critics will no doubt claim unions were cut down because they were too powerful, but the opposite is now true.
3) globalised companies are out of control, shifting their corporate HQs to where taxes are lowest, and so on. Its perfectly possible to stop this, and tax companies on profits made locally. We just dont do it.
4) The UK spends far less on health than comparable countries.
5) The Uk has a massive housing shortage. In fact this ought to be top of the list. Maybe it isnt obvious why it should be, but stop to consider. Suppose your house cost half as much. That means you would have paid only half as much for it, and would have that money as cash to spend on something else. Realistically, probably houses should cost less than half: there is no pressure on building companies to built more efficiently when profits are so huge. What they are really doing is hoarding building land and pushing up prices because they reckon they can make more from rising prices than actual building. Think what you could do with that extra cash.
6) UK education is not fit for purpose. It is turning out the wrong sort of graduates so there is a skills shortage and a need for immigration.
7)The Uk economy is inefficient. Wages, particularly at the low end, are too low so that Uk people simply will not do the work. This gives rise to a need for immigration. Increased mechanisation would free up more people, and higher wages would make people willing to do the manual jobs machines cannot do.