To want Brexit be reversed

[BeKookySheep]

I don’t normally post about politics, but this has been playing on my mind for a while. I wasn’t super political before the referendum — just a mum trying to do her best for her family. But now, years later, I really feel like Brexit hasn’t delivered what we were promised. And I think we should seriously start talking about reversing it.

My eldest is 16, really bright, and had dreams of studying languages and maybe doing a year abroad. We looked into Erasmus a while ago, but that’s gone now. And the cost and hassle of studying or working in Europe is so much higher now. She asked me, “Why is it so much harder for us than it was for you, Mum?” And honestly, I didn’t know what to say. It hit me hard.

Everything’s more expensive — our food shop has gone up loads, and don’t even get me started on getting certain things for school packed lunches! Little things, but they add up. My brother runs a small business and he's drowning in paperwork just to send stuff to Ireland. And a friend of mine left the NHS because she felt so overstretched — they can’t recruit enough staff anymore, especially from Europe.

Brexit hasn’t made anything better. It’s just made life harder in so many small but important ways. And if something clearly isn’t working — and is limiting our children’s futures — why shouldn’t we talk about changing it?

We tell our kids it’s okay to admit when something’s not right and make it better. Maybe it’s time we took our own advice.

Would love to hear if others are feeling the same. Has Brexit made life harder for your family too?

🤣Yes - wtf are we still doing where we are, geographically and economically?! We voted to float physically right out of Europe and stop being an island reliant on the world around us to provide us with all the resources we need. I can’t believe we haven’t done this, yet. I blame the boats. And the Establishment. And teachers. And benefit scroungers. Until we can free ourselves from the yoke of all those countries floating around nearby, and dispose of the people holding us back, we’ll never be accepted as the 53rd state (after Canada and Greenland).

This is absurd.

The most extreme politics is emerging in EU countries, not here.

The benefits were promised to be there as soon as we left the EU

Were they? Many people on here quote Rees-Mogg and 50 years.

Every country had to deal with Covid and the invasion of Ukraine

Not every country was similarly affected by Covid or the energy crisis.

Vote leave promised riches

I don't remember anything about riches.

rejoiners or whatever you want to call them are not making such claims

Surely they are claiming a big boost to GDP or what's the point of rejoining?

There's always a reason.

If Brexit was a half way decent idea it would be easy to plan, easy to explain and easy to defend. Especially now, 10 years on.

Vote leave did not say 50 year

You mentioned riches, I just went with it. Prosperity was the word used.

About the big boost, claiming back the 4% drop in GDP would be good, don't you think?

Brexit is the great mistake probably of over 50 years. Led to the worst Prime Minister in our history, Boris Johnson, whose inaction led to over 20,000 avoidable deaths and net migration increasing not reducing.

Admitting it, and at least start with a customs union, supported by a yes vote in a referendum, should be the minimum to aim for.

Brexit did really happen

Britain left the EU.

Nobody had a vote on what kind of Brexit it would be, it was a simple Yes or No for leaving the EU and that is exactly what happened.

At the end of the day, there is no price too great to pay for freedom.

That's not the only reason Germany is in trouble. But it doesn't really matter if it is - if the German economy crashes the EU is in serious trouble whatever the reason.

Something I think people should ask themselves is - why are they hesitant to rejoin the EU if it means adopting the Euro? If they really believe in the EU economic project, why wouldn't they want the Euro?

What benefits will we see ?

I was jesting about the 50 years - it's often quoted on here though.

I said 'richer' not riches.

About the big boost, claiming back the 4% drop in GDP would be good, don't you think?

I'd be happy with that but if it does not materialise within a reasonable timeframe after rejoining then can we have another referendum?

But it wasn't one small country leaving the EU. It was the second largest contributor to EU funding and a major industrial nation. Even now, a decade after the UK exited the EU we remain the 6th nation worldwide in manufacturing.

Let's give it 50 years

Behind India, China, the USA, Germany and I can't fill in the others, but the top two larger producers achieve that status on the basis of very much lower labour costs.

Agree with this.

Also, from personal conversations, it wasn't just immigration, it was the EU itself that a lot of people didn't like.

My parents voted to join the EEC which was about improving trade. They didn't vote to join the EU, with it's own parliament, laws, currency etc. They were deeply unhappy about the way it went, with no outlet to disprove of it. None of the main parties accepted any criticism of the EU, and called people who were not happy with the status-quo "swivel eyed loons" etc.

If people feel marginalised and unheard, then they kick back.

He's already started on the disabled.

It isn’t that simple though is it?

How much additional value do you think is created by customs officers that have to be paid for, (answer is zero) and the European Banking Authority that was moved from London to Paris (UK had only to pay a fraction of the cost, now it has to replicate at full cost).
Same with the Europe Medicines Agency previously the costs were shared with all other member states, now the UK has to pay full price to replicate the same work, and because it’s a smaller market it’s lower priority for new drugs approval.

Several of those “layers” were actually massively cost saving.

I tried at the time to have lots of “nice” conversations, as I said now I’m telling the truth. I frankly don’t care what you think about that.

I suspect the pp was thinking of the ECtHR rather than the EU/CJEU. But the EU Charter is directly relevant and the Commission is active in the area of LGBTQ+ rights, including trans issues.

It’s a bit off-topic, but I’ve always thought the introduction of the Charter was a shameless land grab from the (already incorporated ECHR) and likely to promote all sorts of social measures and policy that the treaties supposedly excluded.

Edited op to pp.

Boris Johnson was personally blamed (at the time) for not signing up to the EU's vaccine scheme and for appointing Kate Bingham, a venture capitalist (turned out to be a good choice) - whereas Angela Merkel was blamed for signing up to the EU's vaccine scheme, throwing away the head start she had with the four-country vaccine alliance - thereby causing the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of German citizens. That is one of the things she is remembered for - not her relative success in the first lockdown.

Hardly worth it then.

Brexit has failed

To be fair, you should have been listening to the debates and interviews in the weeks leading up to the referendum;

The prime minister said: “What the British public will be voting for is to leave the EU and leave the single market.”

Although if you knew we would be leaving the single market would you have voted differently?

Absurd, she says, immediately after the local elections. 🤣

But that was never official; that was not the question on the ballot and even more people stated we would be like Norway.