by DrNuke on 12/25/21, 4:32 PM with 182 comments
by jacquesm on 12/25/21, 5:18 PM
This will likely go into history as the biggest own goal there ever was, the UK had a pretty good deal compared to other countries in the EU and it wasn't enough. But no matter how strong your country is you can't compete with the negotiation power of a block of several hundred million people. Whether it will make the EU stronger or weaker in the long run is still up for grabs, there is plenty of force trying to fragment the EU, some of it financed from outside and so very hard to control.
There are no easy solutions for all this, and COVID has made it all a lot worse than what it probably would have been without.
by 123pie123 on 12/25/21, 5:35 PM
fair few negatives. to name a few
- increase friction in trade to business (extra paper work/ costs/ taxes/ delays at border)
- loss of talent from EU
- lack of miltary access to Galileo GPS, screwing up the latest weapons
- fragmented internal UK market, NI under different rules
- lack of influence and veto to new EU rules / regulations, so UK has no influence or say to the regulations to a part of its country (ie Northern Ireland)
by yakshaving_jgt on 12/25/21, 5:04 PM
Did the country get richer? No.
Are there fewer refugees? No.
…
Whoops.
by dageshi on 12/25/21, 5:48 PM
by darthrupert on 12/25/21, 4:52 PM
by viktorcode on 12/25/21, 6:02 PM
It's like Brexit served the EU by uniting its members.
by manishsharan on 12/25/21, 5:34 PM
by canjobear on 12/25/21, 5:52 PM
Are there any prominent voices who have changed their minds since the actual event?
by simonblack on 12/26/21, 12:13 AM
When I woke up the morning after the Vote in the UK, I fully expected the result to be 'Remain'. I was dumbfounded to hear that the result was to 'Leave'. I simply could not believe that people would be so dumb as to destroy their own futures.
But for a lower-rank country where people still sing that horribly outdated "Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules the Waves" with no sense of incongruousness, what else would you expect?
by AutumnCurtain on 12/25/21, 5:16 PM
by hereforphone on 12/25/21, 4:49 PM
by errantmind on 12/25/21, 5:59 PM
by dash2 on 12/25/21, 5:02 PM
NOT ON CHRISTMAS DAY, guys...
by drumhead on 12/26/21, 12:51 AM
I dont think the current government has really done much to take advantage of the new freedoms we have so far. In terms of cheaper food for instance, we've just struck a free trade deal with Australia, from where we could have expected to buy a lot of cheap food, but to protect farmers the lower prices are being phased in over 15 years. As the EU are reluctant to strike a deal on Financial services the City is in a position to get rid of a lot of the more onerous financial regulations that had been introduced such as MFID for example. We can lower taxes and deregulate markets more quickly and aggresively than we currently have. I think Covid has had a lot to do with the slower pace though. The debt aquired from the various employment subsidy and industry support schemes had made the government more reluctant to go hard on the tax cutting.
The problem with Brexit was that the leaders of the Campaign, Boris and Michael Gove werent really in favour of it, they just did it to bolster their support within the Conservative party, of which a majority was very hostile to the EU. They fully expected to lose, but they'd come out of it looking like they were the true defenders of the Eurosceptic faith.A the post referendum victory press conferenc, the pair of them looked absolutely devastated, like they'd accidently killed the family pet. They clearly didnt want to be there.
I dont think we'll ever go back though, I think knowing that we'd have to accept schengen and free movement of people, a single currency, any further centralisation of power, and the rulings of European Court would put too many people off. I think a few years from now the idea of going back in will become unthinkable. The only reason most people wanted to stay was the visa free travel, but if the cost was uncontrolled immigration then no.
Interestingly the EU seems to have become more unstable. The problems with Poland and Hungary their lack of respect for EU laws have shown how impotent the EU actually is in disciplining its own memebers. If they keep getting away with flouting the rules then other member states with dubious governments will try their luck. The finances are also become more contentious, the last budget barely got through. I cant see anyone leaving though whatever stories we may hear about a Polexit. The poorer countries have way to much to lose, in subsidies and trade to even think about it. The idea of free movement of people, which was what lost it for the remain camp, is now something that coming up for debate amongst the political classes. Michel Barnier in his failed run for candidacy for the French Presidential elections for the right made a freeze on free movement of Labour into France for 5 years one of his key pledges. So the sacred cows are starting to be questioned.
Im honestly just glad we're out of it now. We dont have to worry about anything daft they might come up with over there. Our destiny is now ours again, we can be as flexible as we need to be to get things done. Time to start looking out again.
by Overtonwindow on 12/25/21, 5:23 PM