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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Shout Out to All Outside the UK! What do you think of Brexit?

80 replies

KenDodd · 14/12/2020 09:45

Ideally outside of the EU as well as it's the global opinion I was really after.
The government and printed press here portray us as a world leader and that Brexit has enhanced our reputation and the rest of the world can't wait for the exciting opportunities for partnerships and increased trade with the UK. I'm not so sure that's what the rest of the world thinks so thought I'd do a very unscientific straw poll.

Yabu - The rest of the world thinks Brexit is a bad idea, it has diminished our reputation and is portrayed this way in the press.
Yanbu - The rest of the world thinks Brexit is a great idea, it has improved our international reputation and is portrayed this way in the press.

Thanks!

OP posts:
TableFlowerss · 14/12/2020 10:40

@ssd

I'm Scottish and can't identify with English leavers. So you dont even need to go abroad to get opinions as above.
But can you identify with the Scots wanting independence? It seems to be about half the population
RudbeckiaGoldstrum · 14/12/2020 10:45

I live in the UK and was recently in the USA.

My relatives who think Biden stole the election from Trump also believe Brexit is a great idea. They also think socialised medicine will signal the end of days, and that abortion even in cases of rape/incest is a sin (but allowing children to be raised in poverty is the fault of a lazy mother who should have kept her legs together).

Everyone else thinks Brexit is nuts.

Tanith · 14/12/2020 10:52

"It's flared up a little recently because of the stories about some US states clubbing together to leave the US - as a warning."

I heard Farage is busy out there at the moment. I suppose breaking up the US is next on the agenda.

MynahBird · 14/12/2020 10:53

Australian. Brexit is one of the saddest things I've ever seen. It's really made me see Britain as an inward-looking, racist, unintelligent place. I lived there for many years and didn't find it so, but this is how I'm feeling now. What a negative impact on the future of the younger generations. Sad sad sad.

SafferUpNorth · 14/12/2020 11:04

I'm a South African living in the UK. All my family and friends back home think Brexit is completely ridiculous and that the UK has delusions of grandeur. Several of them have lived in London in the past and are shocked at how small-minded the UK has become.

Europilgrim · 14/12/2020 11:09

I'm in Italy and I had one neighbour who told me it was a really good idea after the vote but that's it. A lot of people aren't keen on the EU but they don't get why we would do something so damaging rather than stay in and moan about it like they do. They have a point. Grin

Plus since the vote we have obviously had COVID which has made a big difference. No-one is feeling buoyant about throwing away billions of euros at the moment.

Europilgrim · 14/12/2020 11:11

Another thing that really makes a difference I think is that outside of the UK people don't really have this idea that the EU is out to get them and that it takes away their "sovreignty". It's basically a union for trade, no-one I have spoken to feels less of an Italian for being in the EU.

Europilgrim · 14/12/2020 11:12

(BTW I never see the voting buttons anymore - anyone know why?)

ProfessorSlocombe · 14/12/2020 11:14

@Tanith

"It's flared up a little recently because of the stories about some US states clubbing together to leave the US - as a warning."

I heard Farage is busy out there at the moment. I suppose breaking up the US is next on the agenda.

As I say half the country doesn't understand their own constitution.

Which means a civil war is pretty much the only way a state will leave.

You'd have thought they'd have learned the last time.

DuesToTheDirt · 14/12/2020 11:18

As a UK resident and remain voter, I resent being thought stupid, racist, inward-looking. Yes I agree Brexit is all of those things, but I, along with many others (most, if you include non voters, and most voters in Scotland where I live) did not vote for this shit show.

Leaannb · 14/12/2020 11:37

@ProcessorSlocumb.....I agree with you but a lot of Americans think the UK would have learned last that boarding international ships and arresting their crews was an extremely bad thing to repeat. It has caused a war before also....Texas and South Carolina have always had succession beliefs. South Carolina has always been a tad bitter and still makes noises about seccession every few years.. Texas has its own history and many would prefer for it to go back to an independent Republic.

KenDodd · 14/12/2020 11:40

Brexit tarnishes all of us though.

I remember the proud glow I felt during the London Olympics. The fact I had absolutely nothing to be proud of because I hadn't done anything mattered not. Likewise with Brexit and the impression people overseas now have of the UK is nothing to do with me, I voted remain, I didn't bring this on.

OP posts:
AryaStarkWolf · 14/12/2020 11:42

@DuesToTheDirt

As a UK resident and remain voter, I resent being thought stupid, racist, inward-looking. Yes I agree Brexit is all of those things, but I, along with many others (most, if you include non voters, and most voters in Scotland where I live) did not vote for this shit show.
In Ireland anyway most people are aware that Scotland and NI wanted to remain
ProfessorSlocombe · 14/12/2020 11:48

[quote Leaannb]@ProcessorSlocumb.....I agree with you but a lot of Americans think the UK would have learned last that boarding international ships and arresting their crews was an extremely bad thing to repeat. It has caused a war before also....Texas and South Carolina have always had succession beliefs. South Carolina has always been a tad bitter and still makes noises about seccession every few years.. Texas has its own history and many would prefer for it to go back to an independent Republic.[/quote]
My US friends say that every so often - like a grumbling appendix - you get the odd noises about "Leaving the Union". But as soon as you actually dig into it, it stops. Mainly because people don't realise that if you leave the Union of States, you aren't "American".

Apparently the current Twitter chatter is that Texas and other states "leave the union" to recreate the US without those pesky blue states.

I'm guessing there is a lot of money to be milked from people who believe they can leave the Union.

ElaineMarieBenes · 14/12/2020 11:50

I’m a Brit resident overseas - work in financial services and where I live and work the U.K. is a source of much amusement as it shoots itself in both feet over Brexit!

ChocolateSantaisthebestkind · 14/12/2020 11:55

Pro EU, remain voter here. But...what is the point of asking this question? It's happened, yes it will likely be shit, yes, people have lost all respect for us. We know this, this is why it's all so fucking upsetting! Please just stop! Angry Sad

KenDodd · 14/12/2020 11:58

Well except, that's not how it's portrayed by the government or the press. They tell us our standing has grown.

OP posts:
ChocolateSantaisthebestkind · 14/12/2020 12:12

I just can't understand the smug joy some posters seem to get (was a lurker before registering) in picking over a very, very painful wound for many of us and telling us how shit it all is and will be for our children! We knew that at the time of the vote and that is why remain voters voted as we did. We cannot stop what is happening to us now, we know what is coming. We do not need it spelling out in anymore detail. I am so angry, not just about the vote, but about the fact that successive governments have jepodaised our food, water, power and drug security, which should never have happened, in out of the EU!

RememberSelfCompassion · 14/12/2020 12:16

I am really anxious about it all (low earners) but I guess threads like this in my mind have a point - I wish they would help those who think Brexit is amazing to see that its not .

ssd · 14/12/2020 12:20

@TableFlowerss 100%

ssd · 14/12/2020 12:22

@KenDodd

Well except, that's not how it's portrayed by the government or the press. They tell us our standing has grown.
Yes they do that. They also rubbish Nicola Sturgeon for wanting independence. Why they want to keep Scotland when they think were all thick is beyond me .
AndThenTheDayBecomesTheNight · 14/12/2020 12:24

British, but lived outside Britain half my life.

It's like watching a beloved relative go on a course of complete and utter self-destruction, while half their nuclear family and all their wider family and friends plead with them in vain to realise what they're doing and stop.

FeelTheRush · 14/12/2020 12:45

I’m in Hong Kong. No one cares about brexit really, the political situation here and US-China tensions are more relevant.

tyrannosaurustrip · 14/12/2020 13:00

I'm Irish, lived in England for many years, and we're pretty annoyed. I would say there's nuance though, including about which regions voted what way - I think there's more understanding of why the vote happened, but great frustration at realising that Westminster does not give a shit about Northern Ireland, and that we are going to be horrifically affected economically for something we had no say in. Huge economic impact, food shortages, expensive price increases and the potential of a return to violence up the motorway. It irks me people on here almost willing no deal so no voters will get what they deserved - it will screw a lot of us as much as you, and many more than the average well-off no voter.

Some of us are also quietly concerned about the likelihood of a united Ireland coming about not through things genuinely moving in that way via consensus but through the rest of the UK showing such disregard for NI that a bare majority thinks they might as well throw their lot in with us, and the impact that will have.

I was at a dinner in Brussels a year or so ago with people from across Europe, many of whom lived in Brussels some who didn't, and found myself defending the Brexit vote a bit to my surprise. Everyone there thought it was outrageous, and a sign of British arrogance, and varied from bemused to incensed by it. My experience of living in England was utter shock at how little people knew of Europe's role. In Ireland, we would often know who Irish Commissioners were, MEPs are serious elections: These are positions and jobs held by career politicians who are featured on the news and known by name. Living in the UK I was shocked by how little any news coverage dealt with anything from Europe except the comedy stuff - straight bananas etc .

The organisation I worked with had a 'how the EU works' lunchtime talk - it was relevant work wise - and I could not believe how a room full of mostly college educated, London-based, politically engaged people did not know basic facts that most Irish students would have learnt in primary school. To that end, I think internationally the vote was misinterpreted, and it seems almost inevitable to me. But despite what the press says - and despite being in a position where we'll be most effected by no deal - I still think most people don't want the UK to have preferential treatment on principle. There is a feeling of, you've made your bed, you've taken up a lot of our time, you either need to compromise or deal with the outcome.

gabsdot45 · 14/12/2020 13:00

I'm Irish and the general feeling around here is that Brexit is madness.
Plus very worrying for the Irish economy.