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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think blaming Brexit for all our current issues is outdated

215 replies

Bethatlass · 12/04/2023 09:21

When Brexit was being voted on in 2016 Obama was president in the US, George Osborne was chancellor, David Cameron was prime minister, most people had never even heard of Wuhan in China. Since then we’ve had a trump presidency, a way in Ukraine, a global pandemic, massive political change etc. To put it into context my own DD was still in primary school when it happened and is now ready to go off to university in a matter of months. I’m not denying that Brexit has caused and contributed to some of the current issues. However, none of us could have possibly known about Ukraine or the pandemic when we were voting on it and none of us could have possibly known the change in politics we would have of those delivering it. FWIW I didn’t vote leave, although I was torn at the time, while I still think I was right to vote remain I don’t blame those who felt differently almost a decade ago. Therefore, Aibu to think that blaming those who voted for Brexit/Brexit itself for all our current issues is outdated.

OP posts:
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JassyRadlett · 12/04/2023 13:15

Paulrn · 12/04/2023 12:54

Your right it seems so pointless to bang on and on about it. We are out deal with it. If you want to do something look at buying British goods where possible, think what can I do for my community look forward not back. It’s most unlikely we will ever rejoin.

How shall we deal with it if we can't talk about the impacts?

How can you deal with something if you fail to understand the causes?

Kittykatchunjy · 12/04/2023 13:36

InBedBy10 · 12/04/2023 11:03

Alot of people don't seem to understand this.

They think Brexit happened in 2016.

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Agree.

All the people yawning, I think we can guess which way they voted ...

Kittykatchunjy · 12/04/2023 13:38

RobertsRadio · 12/04/2023 11:29

This poster has concisely listed a lot of the negatives of Brexit.

I am particularly worried by the loss of environmental protection that means our water companies are systematically polluting our rivers and beaches with untreated sewage on a regular basis without any fear of real punishment from our government.

My first opportunity to vote after turning 18yrs old was in the 1975 United
Kingdom European Communities membership referendum which voted whether to remain in the European Community (after joining in 1973). I voted Yes and of course the result was overwhelmingly Yes and I remember feeling very strongly that our future interests were better served being in the common market, as it was called then, than not and despite its faults and flaws I still felt the same in 2016. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried the morning the result of Brexit was announced, it seemed and continues to feel like such a regressive step and I still can't understand how we let this happen.

David Cameron, you are a knob of immeasurable proportions to have let this happen.

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I cried too, I still feel so sad about it. Went on all the anti brexit marches etc. We will live with this forever, the OP calling it outdated is just bizarre

Blossomtoes · 12/04/2023 13:41

How can it possibly be outdated when we’ll have to live with its effects for ever?

bluebottle23 · 12/04/2023 13:41

How can it be outdated when it is affecting everyone as we speak!

Comtesse · 12/04/2023 13:45

But Brexit is still going. The retained EU law bill is still going through parliamentary process. Stormont still not sitting. It’s not old news, not by a long way.

Codlingmoths · 12/04/2023 13:50

by that logic I suppose you think Ukrainians should just all go home since the war started ages ago too. It can’t still be relevant surely.

LlynTegid · 12/04/2023 13:55

Think what the UK would be like if there had been a Remain vote, and David Cameron had been Prime Minister until 2019, followed now probably by George Osborne or Theresa May, who would be PM now. I'd be confident no government led by Jeremy Corbyn would ever have been elected.

For a start 20,000 more people would be alive, and the quality of the cabinet would be vastly better, regardless of the policies pursued.

Relevant to blame Brexit for a lot of the current issues we face.

ginsterloo · 12/04/2023 14:04

userlotsanumbers · 12/04/2023 10:38

How long should the effects of a change like that take, out of interest? What were you expecting? 6 months and done?
We couldn't put sewage into the sea, for instance, under the EU; we do now. How long should it take for the effects of that to become fully apparent? 10 days and done?

Pre and post brexit water companies have illegally discharged sewage into the sea, Brexit isn't the issue here, the issue is that the sewerage system is woefully inadequate and designed to serve a population 50% less than it actually serves. We are still using a system which in the majority of places is 150 years old, investment has been minimal at best and flood plains are being built on at a rapid rate so that any period of heavy rain means the system cannot cope and flooding happens and raw effluent gets discharged into rivers and the sea.

PerkingFaintly · 12/04/2023 14:09

And OP you namechanged to start this thread because...?

I'm now amusing myself picturing you as one of the ploppers who starts threads entitled things like "AIBU to think [person I want to attack] is insulting our intelligence by..."

Which usually makes me think, "Well, someone is insulting our intelligence. But I'm not sure it's the person you're trying to make out..."

WestwardHo1 · 12/04/2023 14:26

ginsterloo · 12/04/2023 14:04

Pre and post brexit water companies have illegally discharged sewage into the sea, Brexit isn't the issue here, the issue is that the sewerage system is woefully inadequate and designed to serve a population 50% less than it actually serves. We are still using a system which in the majority of places is 150 years old, investment has been minimal at best and flood plains are being built on at a rapid rate so that any period of heavy rain means the system cannot cope and flooding happens and raw effluent gets discharged into rivers and the sea.

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Well ok.

But I remember in the 80s before the beaches were cleaned up, they were covered in scum and turds. Surfers Against Sewage was formed as a pressure group because so many water users were falling ill after being in the sea. There was a MASSIVE clean up operation, and it was effective. In fact, SAS turned their attention to single use plastics because it seemed the war on sewage had generally been won.

Their focus is now heavily back on sewage.

ginsterloo · 12/04/2023 14:35

WestwardHo1 · 12/04/2023 14:26

Well ok.

But I remember in the 80s before the beaches were cleaned up, they were covered in scum and turds. Surfers Against Sewage was formed as a pressure group because so many water users were falling ill after being in the sea. There was a MASSIVE clean up operation, and it was effective. In fact, SAS turned their attention to single use plastics because it seemed the war on sewage had generally been won.

Their focus is now heavily back on sewage.

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We were in the EU in the 80s. I'll reiterate our sewage system cannot cope with the amount it is expected to handle, anything above that amount will be discharged untreated. The UK population has increased by 20% (11 million) since 1985 and that's 11 million people's worth of sewage added to an overloaded system. The answer is money, investment and refurbishment. Southern Water got fined last year £90 million for breaches between 2010 and 2015 but that's a fraction of their profits and what goes to shareholders

WestwardHo1 · 12/04/2023 14:39

Yes I know we were, I'm not stupid. And I know that our sewage system is outdated and cannot cope with even moderate rainfall. And I know that as climate change gathers pace, it will be even less able to cope with rainfall events (aka just "rain"). And I know that our population has increased far more than they have actually admitted.

However it is undeniable that once investment had been made in the 90s, the water quality and beach cleanliness improved for a while. These investments were made because we were in the EU.

ginsterloo · 12/04/2023 14:39

As bad as the UK is, it is still 90% compliant with EU wastewater legislation, France is 82% and Ireland is 44%!!!

Nimbostratus100 · 12/04/2023 14:43

what nonsense! How can anyone possibly think that Brexit still isn't causing problems!? The problems Brexit has and will cause have hardly started. not going to bother to start to list them all, but simply being excluded from the European ultragrid is going to be a burden for at least the next century. I doubt the country will ever recover.

This might explain why some people voted for Brexit - did you think you were giving someone a short sharp shock and that it would all be over in a few years?

It is going to hold us back for centuries, and then some

Crikeyalmighty · 12/04/2023 14:45

Brexit isn't the only reason , other things like covid and Ukraine are in the mix , but it has totally made our issues way worse than they need be.

ChocHotolate · 12/04/2023 15:15

Karwomannghia · 12/04/2023 09:25

I don’t blame brexit for covid or the war. But there’s a funding crisis in the nhs and brexit was supposed to save money and fund the nhs. Everything it advertised hasn’t happened. I know that was the thing a lot of people voted for and the result is the opposite.

Until the Brexit referendum, I didn't realise that advertising laws don't apply to political advertising. They can knowingly lie as much as they like and no one can do a thing to stop them

Seashor · 12/04/2023 15:35

I absolutely agree with you op. Brexit gets the blame for EVERYTHING. It’s such a simplistic and daily Mail viewpoint.
So much has gone on in world that has had an enormous impact and is absolutely nothing to do with Brexit. But it’s just too exhausting trying to explain so it’s a nod and , ‘Is that so dear!’

midgemadgemodge · 12/04/2023 16:06

Yes there is lots going on in the world

But the UK is suffering worse than other similar counties

Higher inflation , lower growth

And that's a result of brexit , more difficult travel

TooBigForMyBoots · 12/04/2023 16:16

Don't forget the Small Boats issue @midgemadgemodge.

Brexit was very poorly negotiated by the Tory party and continues to make life in the UK harder.

tobee · 12/04/2023 16:17

Typical op who creates a thread and never comes back again

Creativityisold · 12/04/2023 16:22

Putin less likely to have invaded Ukraine without Brexit as EU would be more powerful. Boris less likely to be pm in 2020 without Brexit so we would have had a more competent government

Notellinganyone · 12/04/2023 16:24

The stupidity of people is monumental.

eurouk · 12/04/2023 16:24

Yes OP. The nation should rejoice. I for instance feel so ..... sovereign these days. Got my black sovereignty passport and all. Absolutely stunning. Did you know we got Sovereignty? Just look at us now. No more illegal immigration .... oh wait. Booming economy ... oh, never mind. Sovereignty though.

L3ThirtySeven · 12/04/2023 16:30

andymary · 12/04/2023 11:10

From the tax year 2019/20 to 2022/23 the NHS budget has increased by over 15%, which is around £30 billion a year extra. This does not include the additional £50 billion during the main Covid spike in 2020/21.

The UK government has never given out so many hand outs than they have in the last few years, from protecting businesses and jobs during Covid by paying peoples wages who couldn't work, to the energy price guarantee, to increasing minimum wage dramatically, to all the cost of living handouts.

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Sadly, inflation during those years (inflation made worse by Brexit) has more than offset the increased funding. In real terms, the NHS has taken a cut.