Brexit Mega Thread 16 – Who's Next?

[LouiseCollins28]

We are approaching the 6th anniversary of Brexit, or I suppose the 5th, if you count the period of transition as "in."

Since then, the world has endured Covid-19, seen war in Ukraine and many other things. Brexit has had reduced salience in the minds of many people recently.

When digesting the latest setbacks to befall the elite who govern our islands, a phrase I keep returning to, is “OK, so now do you get it?”

Brexit is undoubtedly the biggest “OK, so now do you get it?” moment directed at our leaders in my life. It’s surely the largest since 1979, since the Labour victory of 1945? or even since the advent of universal suffrage?

The U.K. local elections in 2026, and subsequent national ones, could see a big increase in support for the Green Party and Reform U.K. Two parties with more different attitudes to European integration could scarcely be found, so Brexit’s salience in the U.K. may rise again soon
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There are many electoral contests in progress or coming across Europe too (the Netherlands and France, for example) which will be worth paying attention to. Maybe the next questions we will face are less about "what next?" and more about "who's next?"

Relations between mainland Europe and the UK remain a worthy topic for discussion, whoever leads the nations of Europe, or leads the E.U. itself.

@DuncinToffee

Watch Nigel Farage, for Brexit, and Alastair Campbell, against Brexit, on Question Time 5 December 2024. They both agreed that it only made sense to allow people to enter the UK if they are working.

Government spends about £120 per day per person on accommodation for asylum seekers. About £6million per day in total.

0.2% of GDP, compare that with that the UK lost thanks to Brexit.

UK was the fastest growing country in the G7 in the first quarter of 2026.

Also, in terms of immigration, UK ranks fifth behind:

Germany
France
Spain
Italy

So, what are they spending per day? If being in the EU guarantees lower immigration, why is it higher in the above listed countries?

If UK is worse off due to Brexit, why has Starmer, with his huge majority in Parliament, not had a vote to trigger Article 49?

Because in the EU we were part of the Dublin convention, and could send asylum seekers back to France. Now we can't. So your vote for less immigration has caused more immigration. I know we're not allowed to call Brexiteers stupid, but...

Keir Starmer promised that we wouldn't rejoin the EU in his manifesto. I wish he would anyway, but the press is against him anyway. Perhaps if Burnham says he will rejoin, that might make him more electable.

So, Brexit was put on the table and voted in long before Nigel Farage became an MP.

You know damn well that Farage aka Mr UKIP was an MEP long before his eight tries at Parliament. If he had bothered to shut his gob it's doubtful whether anyone else would have taken up the Brexit baton. But I do recall him extolling the virtues of Norway's arrangements - who you can helpfully remind us is not in the EU but most certainly has ongoing relationships with them i.e in Schengen for one.

Doesn't that just bring home the level of failure on the part of the "pro-EU" cause, AKA "the sensible people" that one guy with the minor platform of being an MEP could take up the Brexit baton as you put it and that Brexit was legilsated for, without him being either an MP or the leader of the "Leave" campaign.

Burnham might push the rejoin line. I actually sort of like the guy (certainly I do compared to Starmer). Christ he can be a dumb bastard though, Sec. of State for Health amid the Mid-Staffs scandal among other failings.

Anyhow for the moment it doesn't look like Starmer is going anywhere.

Weird take. He's a rabble rouser, and there were plenty of rabble waiting to be roused. Particularly after Cameron's austerity. All happy to blame "furriners" for their ills...

They voted for Cameron, who made everything worse for them, and then voted for Farage to absolutely fuck them over.

But we're not allowed to call them stupid...

And it suited Cameron to blame the EU for all the country's ills, instead of accepting that much of the blame lay with Westminster.

Still no other country has left the EU

And on Iceland's referendum

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/27/iceland-foreign-minister-thorgerthur-katrin-gunnarsdottir-brexit-moment-eu-accession-referendum

Iceland’s foreign minister has said she fears her country faces a “Brexit moment” in its looming EU referendum amid warnings over misinformation, foreign interference and AI.

The Italian protest that shows the UK is losing power and influence abroad

Britain is grappling with the reality that Brexit has left it worse off in more ways than one

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/italian-protest-shows-uk-losing-power-influence-abroad-4437766

Sorry, who is a "rabble rouser" Andy Burham?

Who is "they" in this situation? A reminder, Cameron's primary competitors for No 10 were, in order:

first) Gordon Brown who lead Britain into the global financial crash and he and the banks came out of it well but everyone else was fucked for decades. &

second) Ed Milliband who might yet be PM again in 2026 so we'll see how that goes! Back in 2015 he was most unconvincing as a potential PM and believed be in the pocket of the (now 100% provably) corrupt SNP.

Picking Cameron over either of the above alternatives was absolute common sense. Just as Scottish voters picking the SNP, on the basis of what they knew then, was absolutely the correct choice IMO. It could well still be in 2029 too, we'll have to see how far that party's financial corruption spread amid it's ranks.

Cameron's EU referendum/Remain strategy was lunacy but that was basically the fault of those who refused to negotiate sensibly with him and more broadly he sorted the ecomomy pretty nicely. His principal failing (IMO) was that he and Osbourne didn't pursue "austerity" ANYWHERE NEAR hard enough.

If Farage wins (personally I doubt it) this, as my previous post, will again serve only to illustrate the extent of the establishment's failure.

Stop wasting our money. Stop subsidising nonsense. Force working-age people into work ASAP by ensuring that the only alternative for healthy working age adults is idleness and destitution. Cancel all foreigh aid that isnt an overseas military committment immediately. Suspend all "net-zero" mandates that cost taxpayers anythiing in their energy bills immediately until cost pressures ease very significantly, etc...

Destitution?

Hope you are enjoying the heatwave and the high petrol prices.

No I'm not particularly. Heatwave more of a concern than petrol prices rn. That said, lets see, how much of the cost of a litre of petrol is made up of tax?!... 55/60% Yeah, that's going to be the problem isn't it.

Brexit hasn't exactly been beneficial for UK energy prices.

@MaybeNotBob

More came into the UK then were returned when part of the Dublin Agreement. This has been stated in question time several times.

If the Dublin Agreement guarantees lower immigration, why do Germany, France, Spain and Italy have higher immigration than the UK?

@Peregrina

UK law is made by UK MPs, not MEPs

@DuncinToffee

No other EU member has had a referendum on EU membership.

Energy prices are being driven by wars.

Other countries have seen the success of Brexit and learned from it. Self harm is not a vote winner.

@DuncinToffee

Successes of leaving the EU are:

Best trade deal with the US, the Worlds largest economy. Proves that larger block don’t have the most clout.

Lower immigration than; Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Prove that the Dublin Agreement is ineffective.

Ability to lower tariffs on food as no longer controlled by Brussels. Benefits everyone in the UK

UK service sector, which is over 80% of total GDP and employment, has grown in real terms by 23% as the TCA does not apply to services.

Switzerland, which is almost in the centre of the EU, closed their doors to the EU in 2021 and have stated they will never become a full member.

UK law is made by UK MPs, not MEPs

Well, fancy that. Didn't we hear so often about how laws were made by Brussels and we wanted sovereignty to make our own laws? Why did we bother with Brexit if that was the case?

Best trade deal with the US

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah, pandering to the Mango Mussolini to get slightly lower tariffs that the Americans themselves have to pay because we don't have the might of the worlds biggest trading bloc behind us. Woo, go us...

Britain has a more attractive tariff poistion with America than the EU does as I understand it, 10% general rather than 15% general. If you believe in low tariff trade surely that's a positive outcome?

If you favour higher tariffs, then you'd presumably favour the EU position.

Temporarily, yes. Until the moment Trump decides Starmer isn't arselicking him deferential enough and puts new tariffs on. Anyone relying on anything from the US is an idiot right now.

Well thank you for at least acknowledging the fact that the UK-US tariff position is currently lower than the EU-US one, even if you did so only grudingly.

Yet anyone relying on anything from our "friends" in the EU is seemingly only applying common sense.

Yes I'd hope that the leader of our island nation would be deferential to the leader of one of the world's largest economies and it's pre-emininent military power. Long may Trump continue to shame the useless flip-flopping shitweasel Starmer!

That US which (as I'm sure you know) spends $Bns per year defending Europe (with many assets essential for doing so based in the UK) because European tax-payers won't pay up enough to defend their own nations.

Oh, we have a Trump supporter.

You would have supported the UK going to war @LouiseCollins28 ?