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Benefits of Brexit?

391 replies

NotAgainFrederick · 02/02/2023 17:09

Just interested to know what benefits have we had as a result of Brexit?

OP posts:
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LadyWithLapdog · 02/02/2023 22:47

Those are depressing statistics.

ZERO benefits. Total disaster.

Anon778833 · 02/02/2023 22:49
Anon778833 · 02/02/2023 22:51

Literally nothing. The UK has never been such a shameful crap hole that it is right now.

dangerrabbit · 02/02/2023 22:54

We hear less from Nigel Farage?

DaSilvaP · 03/02/2023 05:13

dangerrabbit · 02/02/2023 22:54

We hear less from Nigel Farage?

Have no idea what he's doing.
Wouldn't be surprised if he's enjoying his 30 pieces of silver gained for dragging the whole country in the shithole for the benefit of his pals in the City.

Squamata · 03/02/2023 06:18

Marchitectmummy · 02/02/2023 17:27

Yep not sure why however I do know I was vaccinated prior to my friends in France and Germany and it seemed to be smoother process but why I don't know...I wasn't a Brexit supporter but just remembered that

@Marchitectmummy we were still operating under EU rules at the time. So our vaccination program could have been the same regardless of brexit.

Worried2222 · 03/02/2023 06:22

Oh come on there are loads:

significant increase in household poverty
decrease in food available and its quality
a government intent on damaging the environment, our rights and our democracy
worsened international standing
the city and therefore our tax intake weakened British exceptionalism and intolerance given legitimacy
loss of free movement around our friend and neighbours’ countries
and a lot more

what’s not to like Hmm

Squamata · 03/02/2023 06:22

Obviously it's a shambles but a key benefit is the shambolic nature of it that will help us process the loss of empire.

It's like a mid life crisis that makes us take a good hard look at ourselves.

TheClitterati · 03/02/2023 06:32

There are fewer Weatherspoon pubs. Brexit worked out really well for Tim.

Waiting on my daughters "blue" passport. I wonder if queen has switched to king?

Migration is up. And yet migrants needed for jobs seems to be down.

It's a mess.

jgw1 · 03/02/2023 06:36

NotAgainFrederick · 02/02/2023 17:09

Just interested to know what benefits have we had as a result of Brexit?

The main benefit is that Boris got to play Prime Minister and it went fantastically well.

NotQuiteAChateau · 03/02/2023 06:59

JoonT · 02/02/2023 22:33

It upset all the sneering, sanctimonious, bullying Guardian-readers.

Hi Joon I’m a guardian reader and although upset at first, I quickly upgraded to a guardian subscriber after the referendum to support their journalism.

Then I paid for my dc to have the same passport as their Dutch father. Plus in the last five years we have spent money on language tutors for French, Dutch and German to get them to a level where they can move to these countries so they won’t be held back by people like you.

DaSilvaP · 03/02/2023 13:23

Riapia · 02/02/2023 19:23

People are risking their lives crossing the channel to get away from the shithole of the EU.

My lying eyes are telling me plenty escaping to various EU countries. The kind of people any sane country would want to keep.The ones you're talking about never intended to stay in the EU. So... You're being sarcastic, right?
But if you really believe that, I have a well known iron tower to sell, or if you prefer an historic bridge, still in good condition, one lady owner just passed away ...

Xoxoxoxoxoxox · 03/02/2023 13:40

That we don't have anything to do with the Quartagate corruption scandal?

.. only one I can think of.

www.politico.eu/article/belgium-qatargate-investigation-european-parliament-corruption/

www.politico.eu/article/qatargate-corruption-scandal-eu-parliament-lifts-andrea-cozzolino-marc-tarabella-immunity/

JocelynBurnell · 03/02/2023 23:00

JocelynBurnell · 02/02/2023 22:37

The UK is now a poor society with some very rich people.

The top-earning 3 per cent of UK households each took home about £84,000 after tax last year. This puts Britain’s highest earners narrowly behind the wealthiest Germans and Norwegians and better off than the rest of the global elite.

The weathiest 3 per cent in the UK can continue to sneer at our European neighbours.

It is a different story for the average UK household.

The average UK household is now 20 per cent worse off than its peers in north-western Europe. In 2007, that figure was just 7 per cent.

The average British household is £8,800 poorer than its equivalent in five comparable countries, research has found.

On present trends, the average Slovenian household will be better off than its UK counterpart by 2024, and the average Polish family will move ahead before the end of the decade.

It is worse still for the lowest earning households in the UK/

Our lowest earning households are far poorer that any of our peers in in north-western Europe. The poorest in Ireland have a standard of living almost 63% higher than the poorest in the UK.

Far from simply losing touch with their western European peers, the poorest people in the UK are closer to the poorest in former Eastern bloc countries Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

The lowest-earning bracket of British households has a standard of living that was 20 per cent weaker than their counterparts in Slovenia.

Most of UK’s millionaires reckon Brexit will make them even richer, according to a survey by wealth managers at Swiss bank UBS.

The problem is that the other 99+% will be poorer.

ListenToTheFacts · 04/02/2023 17:50

Take what a pro EU supporter claims are benefits of the EU and reverse them. E.g.

  1. "We get to live and work in 27+ nations visa free" vs "we can't control who comes to work and live here from 27 nations visa free".
  2. "We can trade freely with 27 nations" vs "we can't control the terms with those outside the EU that we can trade freely with".
  3. "We get economic benefits from being in the EU" vs "we have to pay billions to be in the EU and we believe those economic benefits can be replicated by a normal FTA".
  4. "We have the benefit of the EU having checks and balances over our national government vs "we have an unelected government and courts that can rule over our elected ones". And so on. Being in the EU has pros and cons. Just like being outside. The Pro EU side don't like to acknowledge any cons but that is in reality the only difference between Remainers and Brexit voters i.e. how we judge the pros and cons of exactly the same variables!
ListenToTheFacts · 04/02/2023 17:51

There are many Great Brexit Benefits.
• The replacement of the EU's unethical and environmentally destructive CAP with a new system of subsidies for farmers who improve animal welfare and who protect the environment.
• The end of EU FoM which led to discriminatory priority for Europeans over Non-Europeans. It has been replaced with a meritocratic migration policy which treats all world migrants fairly on a basis of equality of opportunity for all, regardless of their nationality (it also allows the UK to turn away EU criminals the EU wouldn't allow us to turn away).
• The end of EU SM which prevented the UK from banning unethical trades, resulting in the UK being the first European country to ban cruel live animal exports, and the first country in the world to ban the shark fin trade, with major steps forward towards bans on foie gras and fur imports.
• The introduction of Gene Editing (different to GM) which can eradicate disease and suffering in agriculture, benefit the environment, while increasing UK productivity.
• UK control of VAT allowing 0% on energy saving measures such as insulation, draught stripping, various heat pumps, wind turbines, water turbines, solar panels, etc. Much of this wouldn't have been possible under EU rules. The EU has previously blocked the UK from such measures. Although the EU has now followed the UK's lead on solar panels.
• Brexit driven wage increases, with wages up 18% across hospitality and catering and wages up 10% across retail. A great benefit for many British workers.
• The UKs independent vaccine programme. While this could technically have happened within the EU, Remainer MPs (including the Labour Shadow Cabinet) were openly against it. So, if we had voted to remain and left Remainers in charge, it wouldn't have happened.
• Increased sovereignty. Supremacy of EU Law and EU QMV allows the EU to pass laws even if EU States are against those laws. EU members are therefore not sovereign.
• Escape from the EU's democratic deficit. The EU's Executive Power holds all legislative initiative, yet faces no democratic public elections and can't even be removed by the European Parliament with anything less than a two thirds majority.
• End of EU CFP which restricted the UK Blue Belt Conservation Zone. The UK Government is introducing new Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) which maintain the strictest possible environmental protection, with a ban on all fishing, construction, etc. These can now be anywhere throughout the UK EEZ (thanks to Brexit).
• Ban on stun fishing throughout UK EEZ half a year before the EU.
• The EU has agreed to surrender 25% of its quota in British waters over five years, with 15% already surrendered in 2021 alone. After the five year period, the UK can reclaim 100% of the quota in British waters (although they will likely allow some continued access for the EU).
• Ban on destructive trawling of seabeds (and other damaging trawling practices) in several, pre-existing and significant UK Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This was previously prevented by the EU CFP.
• Successfully signing trade deals around the world. The UK has secured all the trade deals it had via the EU, now without the billions of pounds per year in membership fees it previously paid the EU to access them. The UK has improved on trade deals the EU has with Japan and Singapore by securing important provisions on data and digital. The UK has secured trade deals with New Zealand and Australia (which the EU doesn't have). A trade deal with India is predicted to be finalized by the end of the year. The UK had reached the final phase of its accession process to the CPTPP.

jgw1 · 04/02/2023 18:03

I understand one of the benefits of Brexit is that NI has a special trade status with the EU, giving it a competitive advantage over the rest of the UK.

Daphodils · 04/02/2023 19:08

jgw1 · 04/02/2023 18:03

I understand one of the benefits of Brexit is that NI has a special trade status with the EU, giving it a competitive advantage over the rest of the UK.

This is a generous interpretation! It just has the same status that the UK as a whole had. In fact it's worse off because there are now trade frictions with the rest of the UK. It's just not so disastrously worse of as GB is.

Daphodils · 04/02/2023 19:13

British ignorance about the EU is slowly coming to an end. People are learning the hard way how the EU makes its citizens richer. It's an expensive lesson though Grin

And it might be about to get a whole lot more expensive, as the UK strives to "do brexit properly"!
Sunak ‘risks full-scale trade war’ with Brussels by scrapping EU laws

jgw1 · 04/02/2023 19:17

Daphodils · 04/02/2023 19:08

This is a generous interpretation! It just has the same status that the UK as a whole had. In fact it's worse off because there are now trade frictions with the rest of the UK. It's just not so disastrously worse of as GB is.

Factually accurate though with the added bonus that it gets the DUP frothing as well.

kitsuneghost · 04/02/2023 19:21

My OH got a blue passport.

AnuSTart · 04/02/2023 19:27

Dunno, but maybe ask the Rwandan govt? They have some cool camps set up.

tangowave · 04/02/2023 19:31

I voted against brexit. Didn't want everything going up in price like it has. Not much is made in the uk.

jgw1 · 04/02/2023 19:32

tangowave · 04/02/2023 19:31

I voted against brexit. Didn't want everything going up in price like it has. Not much is made in the uk.

Just another remoaner thinking the UKs best days are behind us. With faith, soverignity and control of OUR borders then Brexit will be a huge success.

AnuSTart · 04/02/2023 19:36

With faith, soverignity and control of OUR borders then Brexit will be a huge success.......

But @jgw1 when? WHEN???

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