To think this was selfish?

My Mum voted leave based on immigration and not wanting the ‘EU telling us what to do’.
A few months later she moved to the EU country where I live.
A proper face palm.

there's plenty of evidence to say that the Referendum would have gone the other way if 1) voters took it more seriously and 2) voters understood what it would mean for them

This is the infuriating part as the vote was so close. It wouldn't have taken many of the 52% to have voted Remain for us to have stayed in the EU.

Eg those who retired to Spain declaring on BBC Breakfast TV that they were voting leave 'because there's too much immigration these days' only to find that it then became more difficult or impossible for them to continue living in Spain because, newsflash, ending freedom of movement works both ways.

Also all the farmers and fishermen who voted leave who were then surprised it meant they would no longer receive EU subsidies. No shit Sherlock.

there's plenty of evidence to say that the Referendum would have gone the other way if 1) voters took it more seriously and 2) voters understood what it would mean for them

This is the infuriating part as the vote was so close. It wouldn't have taken many of the 52% to have voted Remain for us to have stayed in the EU.

Eg those who retired to Spain declaring on BBC Breakfast TV that they were voting leave 'because there's too much immigration these days' only to find that it then became more difficult or impossible for them to continue living in Spain because, newsflash, ending freedom of movement works both ways.

Also all the farmers and fishermen who voted leave who were then surprised it meant they would no longer receive EU subsidies. No shit Sherlock.

Irish and Commonwealth citizens have full voting rights in UK general and local elections and referenda.

In this particular one I’m not sure they should have had. They excluded British citizens living abroad from the vote, so why not commonwealth citizens? I think many of them voted leave out of spite because it was much more difficult for them and their families to come to the UK than for EU citizens, but didn’t think about the bigger picture.

It was all a shambles anyway.

I voted remain, but I don't think your mum was obliged to consider anyone else in her voting choices. Your choice of partner and decision to have a baby was nothing to do with her.

It’s a case of “I didn’t think the face eating leopard would eat MY face!” There’s a lot of it about.

My FIL said something about voting for Brexit because of farmers. My friend voted for Brexit because of a single human rights case and she said we had to get the UK out - not clear what good Brexit did for either. But I think some people had some highly specific reasons and didn’t think or didn’t care about it the impact on their children and grandchildren.

I don’t know a single Irish citizen who voted for Leave. Irish people are far more pro-EU in general.

Oh I have similar feelings. My Mum voted for Brexit and promptly moved to France before the rules kicked in…

My BIL’s mother used to live most of the year in Spain. She and her entire circle of moronic expat cronies voted leave, and have subsequently been surprised and upset by how much it’s curtailed their freedom of movement and detrimentally affected their lives, from cost of living to medical insurance.

It’s almost like they didn’t think it through …

Most of us are yes but specifically my own family that moved to the uk when they were kids and out of about 9 of them I know 7 voted leave. Their husbands/wives/adult kids voted the same was as them. Baffled me then, baffles me now.

They aren't ex pats, they are quite simply immigrants that is what makes it all so laughable.

Agreed, that’s why I only mentioned Commonwealth citizens and not the Irish.

From my experience they either didn’t care enough to vote so didn’t bother, or voted leave because they didn’t like that EU citizens had freedom of movement in the UK.