to ask for a dumbed down version of whats happening - BREXIT

[cjt110]

So I understand that the UK majority voted to leave, that negotiations are taking place regarding the departure of the UK from the EU.

What I don't understand is what have we agreed on, what is in dispute and whats holding us up?

I can see trade is a big thing here and also the Irish/NIrish borders.

Can someone point me to an idiots guide?

Oh I'm definitely following this! I'm totally confused!

Me too!

And me....

Thanks op

Something so bloody massive and I really haven't got a clue.

Hopefully when our politicians get to grips with it they'll let us know.
I highly doubt even the prime minister knows what the feck a 'back stop' is !!

Lurking as well

All i know is that Boris is really pissed off

Glad I'm not the only one who hasn't a clue.

I just want a bullet point type thing like when we get the budget saying "Petrol goes up 2pence" I don't want to know the ins and out... Not sure I'd understand it if I did.

I have no clue what a hard or soft, or medium boiled egg Brexit is and I'll be fucked if I know what a backstop is. Sounds like some fancy term for a doorstop.

AHA! No.... not the 80's band....

The Beeb has a handy idiot's guide....

Marking my place, good thread OP, thanks!

And assuming you voted in the referendum, OP, were you equally well-informed then?

Welcome to Mumset, Ms. May.

Welcome to Mumset, Ms. May.

Welcome to Mumset, Ms. May.

WitchBottle No I didnt vote in the referendum. I didn't have the knowledge then and still don't now.

I can assure you Patsy It's not Mrs M here

Just as there are different versions of how Santa works, Brexit means different things to different people.
As far as I can work out, the "deal" May has reached is just the legal mechanism by which we leave. Actual trade negotiations with the EU can start once that is passed. We get a "transition period ".
If we don't get this legal mechanism deal we could crash out and everything would go tits up for a good long while. It just would because every deal we've ever done internationally (or which had an international clause) would cease to be valid. Not irreparable but very shit for our daily lives for a good long while.
Oh, and our currency would tank so hyperinflation is a possibility.

bellinisurge Thanks for the good reply.

It makes sense having seen the stuff on the link ^ up there about if we get a "deal" and there being X number of days and how it could be re-negotiated, or walk away with no deal or even turn to another vote.

It's all very complicated. I don't get politics. Far too complicated for me.

I'm not stupid though - Honest. I've got A-Levels, a law degree, a post grad and practised in law for a good few years... but politics....

And if I'm correct, the soft deal is basically shadowing all EU stuff, but we would have sovereignty over it and a hard deal is taking no EU "rules" with us and making our own. Eg the single trade market vs. a customs union?

Not really. Soft Brexit is following the EU rules without a say - not much sovereignty there, more so when you have a role in deciding them!

Pretty much, op.
I presume you know that Dover is an important port for the UK? If you do, you are already smarter than the Brexit Secretary, Dominic Raab. He actually said recently (if you haven't been able to stomach following it) that he didn't realise this.

If you want sovereignty at all costs - hard/no deal Brexit. If you are happy with a relatively functioning economy, the softer the better. If you would like both... #PeoplesVote

The Guardian newspaper also has a good idiot's guide to

May's Brexit deal: everything you need to know

The government is struggling to find a deal that will be acceptable to Europe, to the hardline Brexiteers (who want a no-deal Brexit) the more moderate Brexit members of her cabinet, eg Gove, and May needs support from MPs of other parties (because we have a hung parliament), who almost certainly won't give it. (SNP and Lib Dems are pro-remain, as are most Labour MPs). Labour won't prop up a weak Tory PM).

The final deal has to be ratified by parliament, so that support is essential.

"No deal" is complicated by the Irish border issue: the Good Friday Agreement (an international treaty) requires no border between NI and ROI, but a no-deal Brexit (which means WTO rules) requires hard borders between EU and non-EU countries. The govt is dependent on the support of the DUP, who won't tolerate border controls between NI and the rest of the UK. Far, far better minds than mine have failed to square this particular circle.

Unless May can frighten the cabinet into whatever deal she's cobbled together with Barnier, she's pretty much fucked. Even if she can get the Cabinet on board, she still has to get a deal accepted by parliament. And parliament could insist on a 2nd referendum on whether or not to accept the deal..

All of which just goes to show that there is no point in asking a simple yes/no question about an issue which has a myriad of answers.

Added to the above, Brexiteer Tories could oust her in a leadership election or she could face a vote of no confidence in parliament, which would force a general election.

Then all bets are off!

Fuck me, if there's a general election, Christ knows who I could vote for.

version one

Shit is happening we are all going to die

Version two

Shit is happening we are going to be ok

Choose one and go with it. There is apparently no middle ground.

Great so people who are eligible to vote don’t have a clue about what’s going on.
The reason we are in this mess.