It's been five years since the UK voted to leave the EU, and Boris Johnson says the historic vote will help create jobs across the nation as it recovers from the pandemic.
But although the North voted for Brexit by a clear margin, a majority of voters say its actually made no difference to their lives so far.
That's the finding of a survey by polling company Ipsos-MORI, which asked people whether leaving the EU had made their lives better or worse.
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In the North, 58% said it had made no difference.
The survey found 28% said Brexit had made their lives worse, and nine per cent said their lives had become better because of the vote.
Asked if Brexit had turned out roughly as they expected, 46% in the North said it had, while 18% said it was better than expected and 27% said it was worse.
It's always possible that the Covid pandemic has made it more difficult to tell what sort of impact Brexit has had. While the referendum took place in June 2016, we didn't actually leave the EU until January 31 2020 - which, as it happens, is the same day that the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in the UK.
Clearly, the impact on the economy of lockdowns has been huge, making it difficult to tell how much affect Brexit has had.
Nonetheless, it's clear that the disaster predicted by remain campaigners has not become a reality, at least so far. During the 2016 referendum, former Chancellor George Osborne said that if the nation voted to leave then he would have to cut spending and increases taxes by a total of £30bn. This could mean a 2p rise in the basic rate of income tax and a 3p rise in the higher rate, he said.
Some opponents of Brexit would argue that claims by the leave campaign have also not come true, such as suggestions that the UK would retain full access to the EU's single market or that Brexit would allow the UK to increase NHS spending by £350m a week.
In the North East, 58% voted to leave the EU and 42% to remain.
Mr Johnson, who spearheaded the successful Vote Leave campaign, said the country had voted five years ago to “take back control of our destiny”.
He insisted: "This Government got Brexit done and we’ve already reclaimed our money, laws, borders and waters.
"Now as we recover from this pandemic, we will seize the true potential of our regained sovereignty to unite and level up our whole United Kingdom.
"With control over our regulations and subsidies, and with freeports driving new investment, we will spur innovation, jobs and renewal across every part of our country.
"The decision to leave the EU may now be part of our history, but our clear mission is to utilise the freedoms it brings to shape a better future for our people."
Labour shadow Northern Ireland secretary Louise Haigh said Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal was responsible for the current unrest in Northern Ireland.
"There is a direct line from the Prime Minister’s dishonesty over the deal he negotiated, to the instability we see in Northern Ireland today,” she said.
"The Prime Minister pledged never to put barriers down the Irish Sea and then a few months later did exactly that – this dishonesty is still having real consequences."
