To ask what has improved since leaving the EU?

[Butterflyfluff]

I’ve just had to pay customs charges on something I ordered from Germany - whilst we were in the EU there were no such charges.

Which got me thinking.

Leaving hasn’t been the disaster some predicted but, I can’t think of anything that affects me that’s actually improved since leaving.

What have other people’s upsides been? (And just being able to say we’re not in the EU anymore doesn’t count! 😂)

@Joystir59

Our vaccination programme was rolled out quickly because we were not locked in to EU purchasing plans

That just isn't true, though. Why do people keep spouting this shit? Is it because imagined benefits distract us from the shit show that Brexit actually is?

Restaurants are closing because they can’t get any staff? Or because they’re just coming out of a pandemic which shut them down and changed peoples’s eating out habits immeasurably

@Butterflyfluff

I’m not sure how the labour shortage is a benefit.

It hasn’t led to all the jobs previously done by people from the EU being now done by British people - in many instances those jobs are simply not getting done anymore.

Restaurants are closing because they can’t get staff, there was a shortage of fruit pickers last year so produce just rotted…….

So you are saying we should have stayed in the EU to get all those foreigners to do the shitty low paid jobs that Brits don’t want to do?

@TheKeatingFive

Our vaccination programme was rolled out quickly because we were not locked in to EU purchasing plans

Any EU state could opt out of the purchasing plan if they wanted to. So no, that's not a benefit.

People forget this.

Even BoJo that keeps banging on about it in PMQ.

There are no upsides to brexit.
Could there be in 10 years? Doubtful.
Brexit was a mistake. Seems voted in by misled people and xenophobes. Pushed by wealthy people that have only got wealthier because of it.

The vaccine roll out was a benefit of no longer being part of the EU.

Incase you didn’t notice they where a lot slower to implement it due to all the red tape. We vaccinated super fast compared to them.

@Camoye there are not "more jobs" there are more vacancies. Jobs add value to the economy, vacancies loose value to the economy.

The vaccine roll out was a benefit of no longer being part of the EU.

NO IT WASN'T

There was no compulsion on states to buy as part of the block

clutching at straws but used cars? I purchased mine new 2 years ago - another year to go - went to look at a new one and it's lost £1000 in 2 years - depreciation is minimal because of delaying getting new ones in - I'd have to wait until June for a new one!

Oh and it's a Dacia Duster - nothing fancy

@thatsnotabadger

Oh absolutely everything is better. I can barely afford petrol and cornflakes are fucking extortionate. It's a dream.

But higher petrol prices are nothing to do with Brexit. We don't even have the highest petrol prices compared to other EU countries - although a lot of it depends on how much tax each govt charges. And of course higher energy prices put up food prices. Its the same across the world not just in the UK.

I can think of disadvantages of Brexit without having to make stuff up.

Nowt.

It’s more of an employees market at the moment which is a plus and there’s perks that come with that, sped up by covid too though.

I'm in Ireland and it is an employees market here too. I think the employees market is more of a covod thing than a brexit thing given we are still in the EU.

Where can I buy a more powerful vacuum? Mine have all been shite.

I suppose we’ve been gifted Boris Johnson as PM and Rees Mogg in cabinet. Wouldn’t have happened without Brexit. Seems to be a benefit for many!

But otherwise I’m struggling to think of anything.

Has anyone heard about the oystermen - generations of family businesses likely to be swept away because they can’t survive the red tape and delays. So sad!

@TheKeatingFive

The vaccine roll out was a benefit of no longer being part of the EU.

NO IT WASN'T

There was no compulsion on states to buy as part of the block

Yeah, but the truth gets in the way of the narrative, @TheKeatingFive. And people have got to pretend that there is something good to have come out of Brexit. Otherwise they might have to admit that they got it wrong.

@bigbluebus

I haven't noticed any. Having watched the BBC article this morning about the Cornish Oyster/scallop fishermen having lost 80% of their business, I'm pretty sure most of them will be wishing we were still in the EU.

Well Cornwall voted to leave including many fishermen due to EU quotas so it's a bit ripe them complaining now. (Usual caveats not all voted that way etc etc)

I cannot see any benefits. But that's pretty much what I thought before the vote and I'm yet to be proved wrong.

The fishing industry has collapsed and now we're pouring raw sewage into our waterways and killing the fish and crustaceans, likely to continue to oblivion

We can't import the chemicals needed for water purification fast enough

Our ministers are 'negotiating' new trade treatises by rolling over and screwing our own farmers and manufacturing industries

The foreign workers who did a lot of basic, manual and hospitality work have cleared off, leaving social care, farming in a precarious state

Hospital trusts are trying to recruit from abroad - from Africa and the Philippines- leaving new workers isolated away from home and with no clue about true working conditions

As far as I can see, there have been no benefits

There's one benefit for me. Unsolicited parcels of plastic shite from my NC mother now get stopped by customs and sent back to the UK.

People generally voted for less immigration and even that's not happened.

I see huge advantages from Brexit.

My husband has had a very significant pay increase because his company have done so well as a direct result of Brexit.

We’re in Ireland and his company closed their London office and moved several hundred of millions of work to Dublin and Frankfurt.

It’s brilliant.

The vaccine roll out was a benefit of no longer being part of the EU.

Incase you didn’t notice they where a lot slower to implement it due to all the red tape. We vaccinated super fast compared to them.

Indeed. Britain got off to a faster start but the momentum didn’t last.

amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/06/six-eu-states-overtake-uk-covid-vaccination-britain-rollout-slows

And most countries managed without a £37bn test and trace system, and billions more in dodgy PPE contracts.

Yeah @whadda, I'm aware of a few Irish companies that have done very well out of Brexit. Good for your DH.

Yeah you started off quicker with vaccines but havent ended up any better really. In fact places like Ireland have surpassed and have been quicker at rolling out the 5-12 jabs too. And tbh the way you dealt with the pandemic in general was just shocking, and the rest of the world was watching wondering what on earth was going on

@Camoye

There are a lot more jobs. Hopefully this will evolve to getting people back into employment with better wages and conditions. Basic supply and demand. We have far too many people sat on UC. Before we had to accept that, now opportunity is there. This will have a massive impact on mental health, we have a huge problem with non productive people being utterly miserable with their lot or people working hard but not earning very much because there was a million other people who would do their job for next to nothing. Getting people working and wages increasing will vastly benefit their mental health and reduce the strain on the nhs.

We still have problems, a lot of people got their SS rushed though. We still have people from particular countries trying to set up villages of their community from social housing in the UK. They are very angry and can be quite abusive at the disruption in what was a relatively simple process before. They do still try and get one to get the house and then bring a dozen family members over to expand and of course that’s not limited to EU members, but it is getting a little better.

It’s not made a huge difference yet, but you can see it. It can only be a good thing, we were heading for cities of economically inactive depressed people with social housing totally dominated by people from other countries with all the social problems that brings.

@camoye There are a lot more jobs.

Please provide a list of the jobs that are paying enough to enable people to stop claiming UC.

Can't think of any positive. At all.

Things have increased in price, yay..

Empty shelves;
Queueing;
Moaning about empty shelves or queueing.

That's about all I can think of, apart from paperwork to fulfil all of the above.

Oh, interest rates went up by a tiny amount...not enough for savers but too much for anyone else...

Well done ERG

If I hadn’t been told that Brexit had happened, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Trading regulations changed when we left the EU. I don't know if we're on world trading terms or not, but before the Brexit, I had to keep buys under about £20 inc postage to avoid tax. And then, because you can't pay tax in advance, you'd get charged a handling fee on top of that by your delivery company. Now you can buy to a higher amount with import duties; VAT is paid by the seller so there are no handling charges; and I can get free shipping because I can buy in larger amounts. Even with the VAT it all works out tons cheaper because the US is considerably cheaper. I'm very happy about it.

But I've just explained how things are better so you are "literally" wrong.

@Louisianagumbo You're obviously unaware that the rules changed not because we left the EU but because the EU's rules changed.

If you visit (as an example because it's written in English) the Irish Tax and Customs information pages you will see that they refer to a limit of €150 - which is roughly the same as our new limit of £135. The limit before July 2021 was €22 (our limit was £15).

So your single benefit has nothing to do with Brexit.

Conversely anybody wanting to buy things costing over £135 from our closest neighbours now has to pay customs and handling charges.