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, I’d be interested in the answer to this.

Have we tried offering carers high salaries then? That gem must have passed me by.

And as a country we can stipulate the jobs/people we will give a visa for. If we only have 300,000 visas to dish out after allowing for boat/lorry arrivals and other humanitarian visas then we would have to get as selective as that required.

Edit to answer "carers thst WANT" to do it. People do not move internationally because they "WANT to work in care" they do it because they "WANT" to live in the UK. A lot of these people will be out of care the minute they are allowed to get a different job.

What examples can you give?

So you would continue to wreck the country because you think that one day a trans woman might want a pee in the next cubicle to you if you don’t?!
Read it all now.

Over 900,000 people (net) migrating to the UK in 2023?

I am sure that British people emigrating for work to Australia also do this because they WANT to live in Australia

What happens if you have a care visa currently, can you work in other jobs?

ETA I see in @winter2020 pp you can get citizenship then switch.

The issue is that we have no spare housing and are increasing our population 900,000 in one year.

I think you’re far from alone @BeKookySheep !!!

I would love it to be reversed in future.
Honestly people in the UK don’t know they’re born. Once COL rises and they can’t cope perhaps they’ll come back down with a bang. People wonder why we joined Europe in the first place - it was about avoiding death and war. I hope we don’t have to sink to those lows again before we can get over our arrogance.

But that’s a separate point. The poster seemed to be critical of a migrant being strategic in their life choices to allow them to move country.

No I do think we should offer higher salaries (but then that needs money - where does that come from?)

But then point is the industry has an issue not just for the money but because it is incredibly undesirable work. If people can make the same money elsewhere, they will. You could double my income and I still would not look after the elderly for a profession and many feel likewise. So how much more would you have to pay to get the right people who are there not just because of cash, but because they are passionate about caring for the elderly / children?

I did not say we cannot be selective, we already are in our skilled migrant pathway. I just keep seeing people cite Austria without knowing what types of professions they have on their skills shortage list. It’s not just high earners.

Yes! Speaking of avoiding war … the question of political allegiances looms large atm given Trump’s current actions.

It’s increasingly alarming reading about Trump putting tax obstacles in place to stop the top US universities from receiving funding; and overseeing the arrests of judges, his stated intentions towards Gaza, Canada and Greenland, and so much more.

It’s all hideously reminiscent of the 1930s.

The UK is going to have to decide soon whether the USA is an ally or not?

When is Keir going to speak up?

It makes it harder for him to do so when the UK is a small group of countries isolated on its own; no longer part of the EU with the joint power and influence of 27 countries.

Absolutely this!

As the old newspaper quote goes,

If One Person Says It’s Raining and Another Says It’s Not Raining Then the Journalist Should Look Out the Window and Report the Truth

That’s individual people though. Not necessarily leaders who understand the pros and cons.

It’s not surprising of course!

It’s not entirely true that we have no spare housing. There are plenty of empty investment properties, second homes, holiday lets, houses with minimal occupancy. Everything is a political choice, not just immigration.

As for paying care workers more to look after the elderly - with a rapidly ageing population and capitalism as a model, that’s not going to work, as there is too much demand and we have not quite yet resorted to telling people they will only get any care if they can afford to pay for it themselves. Making people spend their every last penny on care until they are destitute rather than protecting their houses for inheritance might help for a while, until that source of wealth dries up, too, but there comes a point when even the wealth of the wealthy retiree runs out. Of course, we could go back to telling women their role is in the home, caring for their children and elderly relatives without bothering the state and without expecting pay for it, because a good woman does it for love and duty? Would that appeal?

@StMarie4methe point I was making is that it's maybe easier to swim against the tide and resist pressure on our own court judgements, if we aren't part of an EU which has powerful members whose laws are different and whose judgements contrast with our own. This might tirn out yo he a long term benefit of Brexit - idk, which is why I asked the question. The trans situation is an example but you have been deliberately obtuse and reduced it to fear of TW peeing in a loo with women, when you know full well that SC judgement was about safety, sport, women's refuges, access to money and services set aside for us!

I see big trade deal with India in the news today.

All of these deals mean Brexit is further and further away from being reversed, which is good news.

Closer and friendly ties with Europe, certainly. Rejoin the EU ? No way.

Regarding your last paragraph, @Winter2020 , which you added with your edit, are you saying that it is an acceptable catch-all for all illegal migrants, that if they are young, lone men we send them home on the basis they can’t be fleeing danger, because they are men, so we can reject their claims for asylum or humanitarian protection without further investigation? And if they are women and children, we should be inclined to welcome them in and give their children school places, because they must be in danger to have taken the risk of travelling here? Do you think it’s that simple to tell between genuine claims and bogus claims? Or would the next argument be that those with children are just looking for a free education for their kids and are therefore clearly economic migrants?

That isn't true at all. The leaflet that the government sent out to every household in the UK said "This is your decision. The Government will implement what you decide.".
I don't know what would have happened if leave and won the vote but the government and then said "sorry, we aren't leaving". It would have destroyed all faith in democracy.

But they should be able to have a discussion without the name calling and general BS that was and still is around now.
And lets be honest the remain campaign was shite and most remainers arguments on here stopped at immigration and name calling.

There were very few that even tried to get passed that.

A trade deal with India could be good but dear God why do we have to subsidise Indian workers who have been seconded to the UK - and their employers- as they are going to be exempt from NI contributions for up to three years? That's so tone deaf when we've just had a hike on NI.
And well... of course it will mean more immigration. Not a problem with me but will be for some.

The article I took the figures from specified they were pre-Covid figures - so tax year 2019/20 ending March 2020. Not a direct benefit from Brexit but delivered all the same.

That particular report has been strongly criticised here;

https://capx.co/sadiq-khans-brexit-figures-are-straight-out-of-fantasyland

Not to mention that Sadiq Khan paid £55,000 for the report.

Even if her anecdote is correct (although probably exaggerated) it's frankly unbelievable that Maitlis and her colleagues did not robustly challenge everyone who appeared on the programme. Of course they did. Sour grapes.

You can't hold a referendum and then only present one side. Presumably most economists thought there would be varying degrees of negative economic effects in the event of Scottish Independence as well - does Emily Maitlis think the pro-independence team should have been hidden away?

You’d need a few takes and a cross section. It’s good if people respond to a report.