Real repercussions to real people

[london2314]

I'm seeing many threads around social media and debates about the core repercussions of Brexit.

So I will add my two cents worth about what I see happening right now, not predictions.

A soft or hard Brexit without staying in the single market means that anyone who works for an international or european company in the automobile, financial services, insurance or health care industries will have to move as there job will not be able to be conducted from the UK anymore due to regulatory reasons. This is not a choice and companies will be forced to operate from a EU country. Other industries are moving too but these are just some of them.

In the last 6 months, I've seen families split because one parent has to move for work to mainland Europe whilst the other moves to either a different country in Mainland Europe for the sake of their job or stays here. Some companies have made decisions to move in the last 6 months and others will decide once the formal Brexit decision is passed and will have 2 weeks to move. The media doesn't cover this as unfortunately it's not the most well liked industries, but we can't ignore that they are industries of value.

Children have to stay with one parent or the family has had to decide to live on one income only, to stay together - in some cases this is half the household income. There are moves to countries where they don't speak the language and never imagined living in.

In London, house prices have come down up to 25%. They have reached 2012 levels. There will be another 10-15% reduction once a hard Brexit happens. For those who bought anywhere between 2013-2018, they have seen huge losses already and their loan to value will be reduced at their next mortgage. Rental prices have also spiked.

We have lost many individuals who have been contributing to the economy and work in the NHS. The staffing in the NHS is due to take a further hit as many Europeans living here have not applied for settled status or a British passport so will not be able to stay on longer and actually don't wish to stay on in many cases.

These are just some of my observations so far.

It's a fact that if we Brexit we can expect food price rises, mobile phone charges to rise (roaming costs will be different), holidays and other costs will then effectively be more expensive, a reduction in the value of the pound (on parity with dollar and less than euro), new medicines to be launched here years later than other EU countries and the US (as we won't be part of the EU label).

This is all with a prepared soft Brexit where we are not part of the EU. If it's a hard Brexit, the status is even more dire.

I know that many believe that having the independence means these sacrifices are worth it in the long run, but is it truly worth this?

No it's not. Can you tell us the repercussions of a hard Brexit? The more dire ones?

Of course it’s not worth it! Why make most people’s lives hard and miserable, just so we can be governed with unfettered power by the likes of Bojo and JRM?

I still find it so strange how some believe that it is worth it.

Consequences of a Hard Brexit mean that it will take years to have the correct and appropriate trade deals in place - these will need to be struck individually with each key country and we will not be a priority market as we have been as part of the EU. UK is not a country that has a large amount of goods to trade, our value lies in services, which we lose once we let go of major contributing industries. Effectively less job opportunities will be here and the cost of living will be higher. Access to goods and services will be more difficult and can certainly not expect the range we have now. With less money to spend, the NHS will no doubt have further spending cuts.

Of course, being in the centre or Europe and being English speaking, the UK will always have an appeal for the international audience, but will not to cater for the quality of life and opportunities we have right now, where we have such flexibility and access to so many products and services.

Effectively I feel hard brexiteers are heading to make the UK a more Switzerland type model, which then makes the appeal of the UK as a tax haven by reducing upper tax rates, but that works for the rich and super rich. Anyone middle class or below will be heavily affected and life will essentially become more expensive and more difficult.

And doesn't Switzerland take more refugees in per capita than almost anyone else in Europe? They don't become Swiss but they take them. They also have pretty informed direct democracy, which is the opposite of the UK. Legal medically administered heroin voted in by the people, anyone?

How true. Of course we will still be the far inferior version of Switzerland even if we try to 'mould' that way.

Did you guys see the news re Philip Lee? No working government anymore!

A soft or hard Brexit without staying in the single market means that anyone who works for an international or european company in the automobile, financial services, insurance or health care industries will have to move as there job will not be able to be conducted from the UK anymore due to regulatory reasons. This is not a choice and companies will be forced to operate from a EU country. Other industries are moving too but these are just some of them

I actually disagree with this. I know there are regulatory reasons but nothing in those regulations prevent people from working remotely. I could easily work for an EU company but be based in the Uk. I have done jobs where people have worked in Australia!

As for banks moving, not that long ago they were threatening to leave the EU because of the bonus cap. They will always shout about something to get a better deal for themselves.

I don't disagree with the premise that we need to stay in the Single Market and Customs Union but I think some negatives are overblown. am far more concerned about leaving without a deal than I am about leaving in an orderly way.

@berlinbabylon On the contrary, this is not a statement of agreement or disagreement but a statement of fact. I work in the health sector and my husband in financial sector so my statements are based on current facts and not peoples opinions or past experience.

The European Medicines Agency has relocated to March this year from London as they cannot be based in a non-EU country as they approve European labels on medicines. UK is currently part of this, but if we leave the Eu, we will no longer be - which affects our access to medicines as o pointed out earlier, Healthcare companies have crisis plans in place to ensure that their global and European headquarters move to a EU country should brexit occur with no free movement of goods and services. UK affiliates are not affected.

Certain banking functions, are unable to operate from the UK for similar reasons. Again It depends on the banking function and regional coverage. A UK affiliate is not affected but any European or Global division's are again. Sales and trades cannot be conducted is there is no free movement of services. My husband has over a 200 colleagues affected who have to move. Several banks have moved for the same reasons, to ensure that their employees are set up before Brexit, and others are again waiting for the Brexit decision before they move. They have warned their affected employees of these divisions that if there is a brexit decision, they have a short timeline to move, some just two weeks. The banks do not want to move but from a regulatory and compliance perspective, are not able to operate here if there is no free movement of services.

Leaving in an orderly way is ohviously the ideal but as these industries are notoriously unpopular i am sure you have seen very little about the real repercussions of Brexit. That's also because most people don't even know what the end result is, as clearly you can see no decision has been reached within parliament itself. When I say brexit, I mean a brexit that takes us out of a market of free movement of goods and services whether it is planned or not.