Are you afraid? Brexit.

[Puddelchen]

I feel very uneasy about what the future holds for us after Brexit but am I just overreacting? Can it really be so terrible? Why is no one around me talking about this in real life, you would think it would be a hot topic.

Queenie you sound very patronising. I'm sure you don't mean to, dear. I, too, have written to my MP - several times, in fact. What I get back is an anodyne response about 'accepting the vote', working towards a good deal etc etc. Just a standard letter, in other words. I know of several dozen fellow constituents who have written, too, and received the same standard guff in return.

It's quite clear that most MPs - with a few admirable and notable exceptions - are not willing to stick their heads above the parapet and say what they truly believe, or respond in any meaningful way to the concerns of their constituents, even when these are enumerated in detail. My MP has also refused (three times) to meet a group of his constituents who would like to express their concerns face to face, because they know writing does not work. We have specifically asked him about his voting intentions in respect of TM's withdrawal agreement, asked him for reassurances about the status of EU citizens currently in the UK, how our local universities will be affected etc. What do we get? Standard cut and paste response.

I am very concerned now that those MPs who do speak out, like Anna Soubry, are going to be victims of an attack like the one on Jo Cox. It is very worrying that she is being confronted on a regular basis and that even when the police are standing right next to her their response is little more than, 'Move along please, sir...'

No, not afraid but suitably pessimistic about the inevitable pain and suffering it will cause. Furthermore this will be most harshly felt by those most disadvantaged in society. All very sad really but at this point a huge amount of damage has already been done and that sadly cannot be undone

Wise words Hiroo

I think it's important to remember that an absolute fortune was spent on ensuring that the Y2K bug did not become a massive issue.

Worldwide, $308 billion ($448 billion as of January 2018, once inflation is taken into account) was estimated to have been spent on Y2K remediation.

In Sheffield, United Kingdom, incorrect risk assessments for Down syndrome were sent to 154 pregnant women and two abortions were carried out as a direct result of a Y2K bug (miscalculation of the mother's age). Four babies with Down syndrome were also born to mothers who had been told they were in the low-risk group.

The Y2K bug was actually a massive issue - it's just that a lot of people and businesses spent a load of time and money on trying to avoid a disaster.

Normal people who did not work with it would probably not notice the significance of this because it went on behind the scenes.

The ozone layer issue is a similar thing.
When I was a kid, we were told that the hole in the ozone layer was getting bigger and it was going to get really bad.
A lot of changes were made (but they did not impact people directly - people did not have to do anything or change their lifestyle) and despite the issue not being completely resolved, it is far less bad than it was back then.
But it would be completely incorrect to say that it wasn't a problem and that it would have been fine if we just ignored it.

The same with lead in fuel. Changes were made, but with no requirement for people to change anything significant in their daily lives.

Saying that Brexit is a big load of nothing is absolutely untrue - Ford have said that they've lost $600million due to the drop in value of the pound after the Brexit referendum.
Assets worth around £800bn are leaving the UK ($1trillion) - which is a significant percentage of Britain’s £8 trillion banking sector.
Loads of jobs have already gone.
Companies have already gone bankrupt because of this.
The value of the pound has dropped by around 20%.

If Rees-Mogg really knows what he is talking about, then we should trust his statement that it could take 50 years before we see benefits of Brexit.

I've yet to see any tangible benefits of Brexit, but none of what we are seeing now is great, and there surely is nothing positive about having to live with this for another 50 years before things may improve.

Now that the high of Christmas is over I'm back to feeling a gnawing dread over Brexit

This made me chuckle
“Gnawing dread” overcome by some mince pies and a Christmas tree.

Now that the high of Christmas is over I'm back to feeling a gnawing dread over Brexit

This made me chuckle
“Gnawing dread” overcome by some mince pies and a Christmas tree.

Kiki, I didn't mean it that way. I don't like mince pies and I don't do Christmas decorations. I meant enjoying the time off work and spending time with family and friends. It took my mind off things for a short while.

Kiki is just shit-stirring, Faykmemoreez. Best ignore.

Kiki shit stirring? Never. She has a history degree you know!

More scared that well end up staying in the eu

I've written to my MP several times, I've joined protests, I've raised awareness and yes, I'm scared! I have been stockpiling for a while, my DH has now started to realise this is real and is actively joining in, rather than humouring me.
I'd be delighted to be wrong, but I'm not prepared to take that risk with my family, so I will prep, in the same way I buy insurance for my home and holiday.

Someone's being a grown up. Yvette Cooper explains her amendment.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/07/no-deal-brexit-uk-parliament?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

More scared that well end up staying in the eu

After 60mins of "Brexit the Civil War".... we've all been had, to these people it was just an ad campaign.

I now hate cyclists lol!

In just a few weeks, we may well suddenly have no trade deals and face enormous tariffs to trade goods. Supplies of vital food and medications may be interrupted. What could be scarier if we stay in?

More scared that well end up staying in the eu

Baffled.

I have also written to my MP several times reminding them that this constituency voted leave. I know that they have to use their judgement etc., but they are also interested in being re-elected. The MP voted Remain.

In that case, Copper, I have some respect for your MP. They are not meant to blindly follow the wishes of their constituents, but are required to consider the interests of the nation as a whole. If they think their constituents want something damaging, they are under no obligation to try to implement this.
Clearly a lot of MPs haven't grasped this and are intent on taking the country down a very damaging 'no deal' path.

I’ve written to my MP. Remain MP. Constituency pretty well split.

Have had assurances they are staunch Remain but I get the impression hands are being tied inside Labour. Corbyn seems to want out and is trying to placate the middle class left by not saying it out loud.

No. I'm quite excited about it.

{No. I'm quite excited about it.}

That is a bit of a cryptic sentence. Please will you say a couple of things that you are excited that you will see when the UK leaves?

You can't ask a brexitteer that! It's downright bullying.

@Helmetbymidnight

Sometimes when I get excited I discover it is just trapped wind. I wonder if this might be the case?

Danm, I forgot, this thread like most Brexit threads is discussing the fantastic opportunities that the UK is about to embark upon.

twofingers 'I am very concerned now that those MPs who do speak out, like Anna Soubry, are going to be victims of an attack like the one on Jo Cox. It is very worrying that she is being confronted on a regular basis and that even when the police are standing right next to her their response is little more than, 'Move along please, sir...''

I'm really worried about this too. The lack of response from the police is not acceptable. Andrew Adonis has written to Cressida Dick expressing his concerns about it; I'm wondering if us civilians can/should be writing to her too?

I've been sad and angry for two years and now I'm scared and depressed.

Firstly about the imminent chaos, which is almost inevitable now whatever happens next politically: no deal is obviously the nuclear option, but also May's deal or any scenario where we actually do leave is going to create a lot of day-to-day instability for quite some time imo, whereas a better informed referendum or revoking A50 (which is my preferred option) are going to lead to considerable civil unrest. I am really quite concerned about what might happen on the streets in either a leave or a remain scenario.

But also I'm appalled at the social forces that the referendum and its sequelae seem to have unleashed, the country of bullies and loudmouths that we seem to have become, the normalisation of abuse, racism and toxic forms of nationalism that I see all around me, and a breakdown of social cohesion that seems to have developed an unstoppable momentum in just a few short years. Whatever happens in March, I think it will be difficult, if not impossible, to put that genie back in the bottle. If we stay in after all, I think it will still take several generations to broker some kind of rapprochement between the different parts of our damaged society. If we leave, I really shudder to think what will become of us. Read the latest post in Christ Grey's Brexit Blog for an idea of our new position in the world and then consider the likely impact of that on ordinary British folk: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/britain-is-on-brink-of-historic.html.

I wish I had the insouciance of the pp who said 'we'll still be better off than most of the rest of the world' because long-term I think that might not be the case actually.

Thankfully I am not in UK right now.

I am sorry, and I know most people are level headed, but if you only knew about the derision and laughability of the UK stance on this from where I am, and I have no doubt other EU countries aswell people would be hanging their heads in shame.

It is so embarrassing really to see such a level of incompetence and dithering and misinformation, and the truck trial, and all the rest of it.

Anyway, from afar, wishing you all the best.

If it is any consolation, I doubt very much there will be a NO DEAL, so I am looking at a revokation of A50 with the excuse that we will start again. And that will be never.

But I am an optimist! EU would love UK to stay in, but will not be bullied by post Colonial idiots either who don't know their arse from their elbow right now, and everyone knows it, apart from those in their bubble of propaganda who cannot explain anything to us.