to ask whether Brexit is at all like you imagined it would play out?

[whatyadoing]

Because it's a bit chaotic and mental to my mind!

Yes, it's exactly as I thought it would play out.

There was never even a vague hint of a whisper of a plan. Chaos was inevitable, surely...

Well no. I thought that the EU would be reasonable and negotiate a deal with us for leaving. Now it seems that they are simply going to disagree with everything we suggest which makes me even more glad I voted out.

Of course! They're all incompetent idiots - EU and UK.

I don't imagine staying in and trying to get reforms would have been any smoother either.

Brexit is a complete shitstorm. My dh has written a couple of songs about it

I think the EU has been pretty patient with us. It's us that's been doing the disagreeing with ourselves. The whole point of the EU is to look after the interests of its members. I think it's a bit odd (naive?) of people to think the EU would suddenly abandon this core purpose because we've voted out. Why on earth would the EU give a country outside the EU better terms than countries inside the EU? That would be writing its own death warrant. That's not being awkward. That's being sensible.

I don’t think it’s played out at all yet. I’m afraid those who voted to leave will definitely have regrets but will somehow blame everything and everyone apart from themselves.
I think we will have creeping chaos from around March with far worse hardship than has been seen for generations. I think it will result in food shortages, travel disruption, increased crime and vigilante responses, real hardship for some, increased unemployment as businesses collapse and real healthcare problems for many.
I’m yet to hear of a positive outcome.

It's even worse.

I thought that the EU would be reasonable and negotiate a deal with us for leaving. Now it seems that they are simply going to disagree with everything we suggest

The suggestions we suggest are things that they definitely won't accept. We haven't made suggestions that could be possible for them. They have always said that the four freedoms come together.

The EU are such meanies not doing everything we want.

The leave campaign were worse than I realised.

The arguments for leave were much worse ie insubstantial/without evidence than I realised.

The way people blame the eu for not giving us our cake and letting us eat it is mind blowing.

The failure to come up with solutions is though unsurprising.

The fact that people still trust Johnson, Davis, Rees-mogg, Raab, whoever it is now, etc to get a great deal is hilarious.

I thought that the EU would be reasonable and negotiate a deal with us for leaving. Now it seems that they are simply going to disagree with everything we suggest which makes me even more glad I voted out.

See, this is exactly the narrow minded, 'they need us more than we need them' nonsense that has got us into this mess.

The EU have been entirely consistent from day 1.

If we are leaving the club we don't get to retain all the perks.

Leavers are so arrogant that they think the UK deserves to be given everything we ask for because we're 'special'

It's exactly as I expected total nightmare

Dh & I both voted Leave and we thought it would take around 10 years to complete the process, so no surprises or disappointment here.

Government has been more incompetent than I expected for a pro-business party, but otherwise brexit is turning out exactly as anyone who did their research pre-referendum would have expected.

'I thought that the EU would be reasonable and negotiate a deal with us for leaving'

Yes, this is definitely all their fault!

I'm not surprised that the whole thing is such a shitshow. Like others said, there was absolutely no plan in place for a Leave vote majority. I'm still hopeful that we will end up not leaving, and I will happily take the humiliation over 2 years of pissing about and wasting everybody's time. I can't see a No Deal scenario - not because the government are remotely competent, or give a shit about the country, but because they absolutely definitely do give a shit about themselves. They won't want their legacy tainted with the threat of food shortages and civil unrest. So I think their naked self interest will prevail.

What exactly were you expecting, @whatyadoing - if you're actually surprised at what's happening...?

Nothing seems to be getting done. There's a lot of fussing but I don't actually see anything being done. Have they even one thing set in writing yet?

Haven't got a clue, it hasn't happened yet.

No, I did not think that at this point we would be in a position where "no deal brexit" was seen as a likely and acceptable outcome.

Now it seems that they are simply going to disagree with everything we suggest

What have we suggested that doesn't boil down to "cake and eat it"?

(a) Until the UK knows what its asking for, not much the EU can do
(b) The UK is still nowhere near knowing what its asking for
(c) Brexit has not actually happened yet
(d) If due to (b) there is not a negotiated exit, 99% of those who voted for the debacle will suffer economically
(the other 1% are bar stewards like Rees Mogg and Johnston and Farage - too rich to care about anybody else)

BMW6 - so if it’s to take 10 years what is going to happen between April 2019 and April 2027? Will we be subsumed under Russian control? Will we just have to ‘pull together as one sovereign nation’?
Will it be wartime songs on the gardens turned over to allotments?
Will Butlins and Pontins be in high demand against we can’t travel easily? Will Skegness and Bognor have a revival?
Will women return to their rightful place in the home, freeing up jobs for the menfolk - much easier without that nasty EU protecting people’s rights?

It's going exactly as badly as I expected, given that there was no plan and all expert advice showed there was no way a 'good' deal was possible.

It was always abundantly clear that the EU would prioritise their remaining members over us, and that we would be made an example of to put other countries off leaving. I think they've been amazingly patient, in the circumstances.

'I think they've been amazingly patient, in the circumstances.'

I agree. I'm amazed Barnier hasn't freaked out and refused to do any further negotiating until our government sort themselves out pigs start flying

No. I voted remain and thought, and still think, that Brexit is a bloody stupid idea but I never thought the British government would be quite so incompetent about doing it. Theresa May started the timebomb ticking then instead of working to defuse it she called, and damn near lost, an unnecessary election. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

It now looks likely that Tory party infighting will seriously damage our country, even more so than just about any competently-organised Brexit would have.