10 years since Brexit-would you vote the same?

[NoEffingWay]

I was listening to a podcast today about this, and it was really interesting. They had a group of people who voted Leave at the time, and although most of them were unhappy about how it has panned out, only one would have changed his vote if they could have voted tomorrow.
I voted remain at the time, and would do so again. The loss of freedom to travel across the EU, and work without visas is a loss, most likely not to me, but to DS who would have loved to have travelled across Europe and work his way with ease.
What would you do, and why?

Voted remain and would again.
I Still can’t believe the lies the Leave camp were allowed to make, bloody Boris and his bus! What a surprise those millions for the NHS never arrived.

Absolutely. Voted leave then and would vote leave again. Fantastic decision.

Same.0

😂

Can you give some examples of what’s been so great since leaving?

I was a remainer but I think the whole thing was like a divorce: financially there are no winners but the bickering had to stop. Europe just has a different political complexion to Europe. We are more centre right and less centre left. Our goals don’t align closely enough and there is a cultural difference in the way agreements are reached in Europe that feels very alien to our way of life negotiation. I don’t think we will ever return because we won’t take the Euro ( or should we) and that’s a non negotiable for the EU.

No you can't work in the EU as you used to. There are limits on work visas, restrictions in getting residency. There are multiple difficulties in import/export formalities and this has been the end of many SMEs, as the additional processing times and costs make trading with the EU unprofitable.

The EU isn't perfect, but I'm British living in an EU country and basic things work much better here - education, health, infrastructure. When I come back to the UK I'm shocked by the visible poverty and neglect that's worsened over the last 15 years in many UK cities and even in the more prosperous south east. Meanwhile, the Reform supporters /England flag wavers seem to be absolutely fixated on immigration, while everything else falls apart around them. Tragic.

this never goes well

This never seems to get a solid answer, I’ve not seen one yet.

There was no public clamor to leave the EU or have a referendum. Cameron chose to offer one because he wanted to lance the boil in the Conservative party and shut up the Tories anti EU clique once and for all. That is not a good reason to hold a referendum.

It was his hubris - he thought he could do a project fear like they did in Scotland with the "better together" campaign. He was playing with fire for massive stakes and he and all of us lost. Then he jumped ship.

I think he should take a lot if not most of the blame. It would not have happened without him. For that reason alone he should be in line for worst PM ever.

Where's the European army based? I thought it was a myth?

Also, which European laws have we repealed that now affect you in a positive way?

I am fairly pro immigration but I feel that brexit has affected the UK adversely as it's no longer possible to send people back to another EU country if they enter illegally. But of course, this suits people like Farage as "sorting this out" is the very thing his whole election campaign relies on.

I voted remain, would now vote leave.

Changingplace · Today 07:26

BeSunnyLemonSheep · Today 07:22
Absolutely. Voted leave then and would vote leave again. Fantastic decision.

Can you give some examples of what’s been so great since leaving?

Increased red tape and expense, leaving small and medium businesses to stop trading with the EU.

Great loss of GDP, as many European countries have curtailed investment here.
Loss of access to Europol.

Loss of access to the Erasmus programme for students.

Great difficulty, more paperwork and expense for shellfish exporters.

Hassle getting into EU countries, now we no longer have free movement; loss of work opportunities for people who previously worked in EU countries.

Loss of academic co-operation programmes.

Still having to pay contracted money into ESA programmes, despite being removed and losing any benefit from them.

Just a few of the best advantages, which I could think of.

I haven't listened to this podcast, whatever it was, and I've no idea how they selected their groups of Leavers and Remainers to interview, nor how many they polled, nor even if it was actually a proper poll or just a random chat with a few random people...

but I'm bound to say, given the knife-edge of the 2016 vote, that if even one of the Leavers would have changed his or her vote if it was in 2026, then (unless they polled a massive group of Leavers) statistically (albeit in the least scientific way possible) that one person changing their vote, scaled up and translated to the electorate, might well have made the 2016 outcome different. (I did say this is extremely un-rigorous and unscientific )

I voted to remain and I would do that again in a heartbeat. More so, now we're staring Russian aggression and Neo-colonialist expansionism in the face. Europe really needs to stick together.

What has Brexit actually changed for the better? Could anyone here who voted, with the best intentions, to leave the EU, now point to anything that they feel vindicates their vote? I'd be genuinely interested.

And we could have had blue passports without leaving if we had wanted to.

Can you give some examples of what’s been so great since leaving?

@Changingplace i think you know perfectly well why people don’t answer - presumably you’ve been on the Brexit topic where similar faux naif questions such as yours are asked - which, if anyone is foolish enough to answer, a gleeful pile-on follows.

If there were benefits they would be clear, no one would need to ask.

I don’t think the process is democratic. You can vote for an individual, but you cannot vote for the head and you cannot vote for a manifesto

If there are rational positive arguments then there would be no reason for a pile on.

Personally I’d love to hear some positive news I may have missed, so I shall wait.

Personally I’d love to hear some positive news I may have missed, so I shall wait.

What about VAT on education?

Please can you explain why? What are the positives we’re now experiencing from having left? I could do with some positive news in my life.

Of course.

There has been no benefit to leaving.

On private education? That wasn’t an outcome of Brexit, but this is MN so naturally every thread must at some point bring this up.

I’ve just had to look this up, which head are you referring to?

The European Union has three primary presidents, each elected by different bodies: 1, ]

President of the European Commission: Nominated by the European Council (the heads of state or government of the EU member states) and elected by an absolute majority of the European Parliament.1, 2]
President of the European Parliament: Elected by the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) themselves in a secret ballot following European elections. 1]
President of the European Council: Elected directly by the European Council (the EU's 27 national leaders) using a qualified majority vote. 1, 2]

What manifesto? The EU doesn’t operate under a single manifesto.

The European Union does not have a single political manifesto, as it is governed by a coalition of institutions and elected political groups rather than a single party. However, the overarching political agenda for the current 2024-2029 mandate is driven by the European Council's Strategic Agenda and the European Commission's Political Guidelines.1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Voted Remain and would do so again. I know too many people in business - people who employ decent numbers of people - in SME companies who export. And it’s way harder and costlier now. To the extent that its impact d their ability to pay more, or employ more people.
disaster for business and jobs