To be getting more not less depressed about Brexit as time goes on

[teneastereggs]

It all seems so pointless doesn't it, I feel sorry that some- probably many- people were duped into voting for it, I feel annoyed that the 48 percent who voted remain have been completely ignored, annoyed about all the divisions it has caused our country and all the rows, and overall just really fed up with the state we are in now. I thought it would be getting better by now but actually feel worse about it now than I did at the time.

It's very telling that most Americans ask why did the uk leave the eu as one of their searches on visit britain.
Also that the day after the referendum which 16 year olds weren't allowed a vote on either. The most searched question was what is the eu?
Now the government are signing us up to CPTPP which is a similar agreement to the one where either AU or NZ were sued by a tobacco company for stopping advertising their products.

If only we could get rid of capitalism, the world it would become a much better, equal and safer place.

My mother (apolitical) voted leave for the £350m for the NHS. She’s furious about the whole mess now. I just tell her that’s what she voted for.

Mind you, Liz Hurley voted leave so she could get peach coloured lightbulbs.

The problem with Brexit goes back right to the early 90s when fundamental decisions were made without any democratic mandate. All fundamental decisions never appeared in a manifesto....think shadowing the ERM with a view to joining, Maastricht treaty, treaty of Amsterdam etc. When there has been a democratic vote elsewhere it has been ignored.

As a result the political infighting brought down PMs, governments. Brexit was the first actual democratic exercise and guess what, the years of frustration got poured into it...ie where was there a vote allowing huge numbers of nationals from EU accession states free entry to the U.K.

Was all sadly inevitable but yes the damage from Brexit has been equally huge and not understood properly. However, most politicians are now so scared as a result, this will not get dealt with for generations as each and every one of them are self serving and deceitful

Also government mismanagement and that we don't produce enough of our own food requirements. Hardly taking back control - especially when we're an island that could be starved out in a conflict.

Amen

Brexit wasn't my choice but the changes to the labour force in the UK mean I have managed to maintain a well paid job in tech despite being 60 this year, so oddly it has benefitted me.

Even if it hadn't though, I can't see the point in getting depressed about it. How does that help? The vote was carried, we left. That was the electorate's decision. I accept it and get on with life.

The alternative would be to be depressed every time a vote doesn't go my way.

This. Regardless of whether we should have left or not, this is why it happened. Arrogant govt ignoring the democratic process for decades.

Let's hope they've learned to carry the people with them, next time.

Which would be true if the government weren't changing the constituency maps so that the tory voters would have a better chance of voting them in in perpetuity. A really depressing thought.

Please join one of the many pro Europe groups to try and rejoin.

Ours is called Chester for Europe and is still campaigning hard.

This is wholly supported by evidence.

I am sorry the way it’s panned out

the arrogance of governments is to blame. Staggered free movement would have meant less unhappiness in certain sectors

I voted Remain and am really sad about all this. Knew it would be a disaster but at the same time I think people need to reap what they've sown and suffer the consequences of this choice now as both the Government and the Leave brigade were so arrogant and deluded

But a democratic vote means everyone treated equally, with the same information. No one could deny that this simply wasn’t the case with the leave campaign based on lies?

I agree. We are a British family, we’ve lived in France for 15 years, and Brexit has thrown up all kinds of challenges. Most of them are first world problems, but added together they make life a lot more difficult, bureaucratic and uncertain.

we didn’t get a vote on Brexit and despite repeated governments saying it will be covered, we still don’t get to vote in general elections as we’ve been out of the uk for more than 15 years.

Brexit was the greatest ever con and economic act of self harm on the British people, just like everything there is someone somewhere getting very rich from all this just like the massive Covid swiz where billions was funnelled to contracts for government cronies. Our GDP has reduced by 4% due to Brexit alone, now we have global economic pressures, war in Ukraine and soaring inflation. We have an ageing population and a dwindling workforce, yet we have a deluded government who think they can entice retirees into the workforce. How is that a solution to boost productivity. The whole thing is a mess.

You've been in France 15 years you don't have any moral right to vote in matters of British politics when you don't even live here

YANBU, its depressing. I'm lucky as most of it doesn't affect me as I live in the EU with dual citizenship but even the little things like the difficulties with sending and receiving packages are depressing, my mum no longer sends us Christmas presents because of it, I don't order stuff from the UK any more because of it etc. And it's depressing thinking of the impact it has on my family back in the UK.

Look on the bright side - it's saved you a bob or two not buying presents.

I’ve been thinking the same recently. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.

Yes, I feel the same way as you OP. The biggest act of shooting yourself in the foot. I feel disappointed and cheated and out of love with the country. I have lost faith in the way politics works in the country. I never realised that feeling happy with the country you are in is so important.

On a rationale level though I do realise the situation is made worse by the ensuing pandemic and current cost of living crisis, inflation etc.

I am not sure I have lost all hope yet. However, because I have other nationalities too it is constantly on my mind whether we should be leaving or not and that is unsettling. My DC are settled here and I would not want to leave them and the idea of starting again at my age (although I could work in the country I am thinking of) is quite daunting.

I have a lot of friends who have similar options and many feel the same way.

I was just away in a beautiful European country where I once lived. It made me sad to think that once I would have been able to retire there if I had wanted to.

I recently found out (too late) about the Portugese Golden Visa scheme. I was extremely excited until I realised it had closed already.

It made me realise how much I personally valued and miss the opportunities of being part of Europe.

I’m now incredibly worried. Went from sadness and despair to anger at the lies and now it’s just fear.

Was prepared to suck up a decision that was different to my own point of view and was going to try to embrace all the alleged benefits but there really aren’t any and all my fears are now coming home to roost.

So now just trying to stick my head on the sand.

The problem with democracy in the UK though is that you have to vote for all the things potential Governments propose if you choose them, not pick and choose. If we had more coalition Governments, we could have a more balanced approach. With first past the post, we've had to put up with all of the Tories' corruption and self serving crap, plus the Brexit fiasco, because people were worried about Labour and the economy so kept not voting for them (given the state of our economy now, it's a bit baffling that people think the Tories can do a good job with that, but here we are...).

So the many GE 's we had as these various treaties were being signed and implemented counted for nothing? not too mention the many EU parliamentary ones too.

the UK could have voted in a anti EU party at anytime since 1973/75 but each and everytime, voted for pro EEC/EU ones, even after FOM.

Even UKiP at its peak managed at most 2 MPs & a few council seats.

Brexit was stirred up by people like Farage and Johnson, with the English too stupid to see through their lies and a pathetic Cameron who pandered to their wishes, if ever a PM should be charged with Public Office offences, it is him.

Now we and future generations will pay for it, not them, they are multi millionaires, Brexit wont effect its millionaire backers, it'll make them even richer.

It is fairly depressing how much it has cost and will cost the UK, and its only been just over 2 years since we left.