Unintended Consequences

[ZigZagJigsaw]

A colleague who voted for Brexit has just been informed she has no right to emigrate to the Netherlands with her family. The reason she wants to move there is because she says NL have a better healthcare system than the U.K. Her youngest child (teenager) is highly dependent on the NHS and apparently that would disqualify them, unless they agreed to not use the public health care system.

The above would apply even if the NL classed my colleague and her husband as highly skilled, which they don’t. British nationals are now classed as third country nationals so they have to relocate as highly skilled immigrants. No more free movement after Brexit.

She’s trying to be exactly the same kind of economic migrant to the NL that she voted to keep out of the U.K. And for some reason doesn’t seem to see the link.

I’m just nodding politely at work but I had to come and vent somewhere.

AIBU to think “you brought this on yourself”?

I'm sorry you were asked that question, @Simonjt , but unsurprised. My surname is noticeably not British and I've had quite a few pointed remarks about where I'm really from. Only happened since Brexit!

I get “that’s a nice tan you’ve got, do you speak any other languages?”. I’ve got an obviously English name, speak English wit a Manc twang 🤷‍♀️. I think what these people are getting at is that I look a bit “foreign” to them because my grandad was from the Caribbean. It never happens in Manchester (or any other city) just when I holiday somewhere like the highlands.

See this is what I was saying and it's still going on. This kind of talk (see also: I CBA to vote, Brexit will never happen) is what made some people dig in and vote leave.

Why be so insulting?

I'd not be sympathetic either. But to be fair, Boris said we would have billions more to spend on the NHS if people voted to leave. I think that might have been one thing that mislead the less well informed. (If only valid and honest information had been bandied about......)

Not the point is the thread, but they are mistaken. You can spend 90 days in every 180 in the Schengen area on a rolling basis, so that equates to 180 days a year.

Surely that's further stupidity? Digging heels in because others pointed out it wasn't a good idea.

There wasn't one logical economic, fiscal or social reason to vote for Brexit so yes, I absolutely think it was stupidity.

My point is that calling people stupid isn't helpful or productive. Play the ball not 5he player.

No idea.

YANBU I voted to remain as part of Europe and still believe that Brexit is the biggest mistake. I have seen absolutely no positives come from it

IIRC the leave/remain/didn't vote portions were all pretty similar?

Well, that’s one view.
Another is that the NL are totally right to deny her entry, as would the UK be if the situation was reversed. The outcome is correct.
It’s only the disillusion of the friend in question that is weird.

There were plenty, actually.

I didn’t say the outcome isn’t correct. Doesn’t change that people are and were too stupid to understand the implications of the referendum.

Well, you speak for yourself!

Well no - you’re assuming it’s an insult, when it’s really just reality. Do you really think the general public en masse ever could or should have had the knowledge and education to be able to weigh in on such an enormous and far-reaching decision? And not just weigh in – the education and knowledge to decide on a blanket yes or no.

We elect experts to govern this type of wellbeing for us, just as we elect them to safeguard our national security, appetite to risk of expenditure and the safety of our foods and medicines. We elect them because they are educated and trained to make decisions in our best interest with measured responses.

The mind boggles with the referendum, and it will do forever.

To think it? You wouldn't BU to say it. Why don't you?

What goes around, comes around! Serves her right for voting for Brexit!!

I guess it depends how you feel about the EU.
For me, those people with all the expertise and know-how were making terrible decisions for the people of this country due to us being members of the EU.
The ‘idiots’ who couldn’t possibly understand what it all meant, got us out of the EU.
Again, for me, the outcome was correct, so…

You are right though in that it should never have come to a referendum. Cameron went to the EU and said, we need you to move on these three issues for us, or we’ll need to go to the people to decide on our future with the institution. The EU sent him home with a flea in his ear. And so the referendum went ahead.

That's even funnier - they don't even understand what they ARE able to do.

Well, with the lack of effort made by the pro-Europe politicians to defend the EU, I’m not surprised people didn’t know exactly what they were voting for.

Each and every question raised (mostly by non-political normal people) about what Brexit would do to reduce the previous levels of immigration, (a big concern in fairly poverty-stricken Northern towns, where increased levels of immigration had plunged whole communities into culture shock, reduced their NHS outcomes, put pressure on education and housing, not to mention employment outcomes), was immediately shut down, with an (un)healthy dose of repugnance, normally ending up with the question-raiser being told that they were disgusting and racist.

Had anyone (Conservatives - they were the party responsible for allowing a referendum) actually bothered to answer the questions, emphasising the benefits of remaining in the EU and potential pitfalls of leaving, I am sure there would have been a different result!

The backlash against Brexiteers from some of the “Remainers” (The Guardian and BBC set) also did nothing to further the attraction of remaining in the EU.

Instead, this morally superior faction played straight into the hands of UKIP, by calling the Brexiteers racist and stupid. That’s what you get when you insult half the Country without listening to their fears - a typical “Tommy” knee-Jerk reaction -and here we are.

I’m not sure which “side” I’m more angry with, but on balance, I do think it’s probably the self-absorbed so-called “clever” ones…

I love it when the brexit mugs vote comes back to haunt them. Just like the magas.
Voting against your country's best interests is traitorous.

Before Brexit there was a lack of teachers, doctors, and nurses. After Brexit, the UK has lost even more employees from those three groups and now there is also a lack of retail workers, hospitality workers, fruit pickers, truck drivers, and researchers.

Have you not noticed the occasional empty shelves in the supermarkets, those times where it was difficult to get petrol for your car? Have you not noticed that many of the language teachers do not have any kind of teaching certificates but are simply some people who can speak that language? The restaurants that have decreased their opening hours because they don't have sufficient staff? The fruit rotting on the ground? The increased need for food banks?

That’s a bit harsh not everyone voted to keep out immigrants there were other things that people voted for. I agree the public should not have been giving the vote unless everything was explained in black and white and the government being honest would have also helped but you’re wrong calling everyone who voted stupid.

So before Brexit would The Netherlands have paid for all the medication and care needed for the child for the rest of his life? But since Brexit she can only move if she agrees to pay for private medication/care with no contribution from the Dutch government? Genuine question as I'm not sure how it works.

Yes, that is what "free movement" means.