When the Brexit campaign launched, some of the key points were:
- Control of the borders and net migration
- Getting rid of the EU red tape
- Save money spent on EU membership and fund NHS instead
- Help the local industry (fishing, farming, etc.) by re-adjusting regulations and benefit from better trade deals and tarrifs
- Reduce the cost of living and EU austerity
The ballot for the Brexit referendum did not specify any priorities among the above targets. It was just a Stay or Leave vote.
However, when the goverment started working on triggering Article 50, the PM decided that the highest priority was the immigration control.
A part of the Brexit campaign was aiming at leaving the EU control but not the single market as economists warned about the risks of losing the EU trade deal. There are targets that have been conflicting the sacrifice of trade deals in order to secure border control. Is there any objective process that the government used to decide that the border controls were more important than other priorities?
Why or how was the British vote interpreted in such a way that it made obvious that border control was the highest priority? Why did the government decide to work hard on reducing the net immigration instead of, e.g., funding NHS?