Brexit

[PerkyLady]

Hello.
Maybe some of you will consider this a fresh topic, but I'm interested in it nevertheless.
Did you vote for or against Brexit?
And what were your reasons?
Stay well.

Farage was on the pre 2009 EU scheme. The 50% top up one.

We have already established above that the UK taxpayer is still paying into the Farage pension pot.

But here you are, defending Farage for taking taxpayer top up funded pension.

European Parliament faces lawsuit over cuts to voluntary MEP pension fund | Investigate Europe (investigate-europe.eu)

@RedTagAlan

If someone has paid into a pension scheme of any type, they are entitled to an annual payment when they retire.

Like most who work, Farage is a taxpayer. So, along with other taxpayers he receives tax subsidies.

However, pensions paid to MPs/MEPs/HOL, etc., seem to be much better compared to other professions.

"So, along with other taxpayers he receives tax subsidies".

Ahh right. So you claimed all his pension contributions were made by him. I showed that to be wrong. Now you say he got "tax subsidies". Whatever they are.

Of course, he was paid from the public purse too, to do a job he hardly ever done, and he is very happy to take an enhanced pension from an organization he fought against and wanted us to be no part of, while not doing what he was being paid to do.

How is he getting on representing the people of Clacton these days ? Or is he full time at Mar a Lago ?

:-)

Ahh right. So you claimed all his pension contributions were made by him

The MEP pension scheme was contributory by the individual and with contributions added by the EU from the EU purse.

Not all employees agree with their employers policies, ways of working, ….. and many other issues which can’t all be defined and listed. Some go on strike. Some leave and move on. However, they would still be entitled to the pension they had paid into over their period of employment.

I have never been to Clacton. So, no idea what goes in that constituency.

"I have never been to Clacton. So, no idea what goes in that constituency."

Nor has Nigel :-)

So, let the constituents’ vote him out with a recall petition.

That is not possible unless one of the following applies:

• convicted of an offence in the UK and receives a custodial sentence (including a suspended sentence) or is ordered to be detained, other than solely under mental health legislation
• suspended from the House of Commons for 10 sitting days or 14 calendar days
• convicted of providing false or misleading information for allowance claims under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009.

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections/how-elections-work/types-elections/recall-petitions

I wouldn't be surprised if he was guilty of the 3rd, but obviously it needs to come out.

@RedTagAlan

Rachel Reeves has reduced the tariffs on 100 supermarket items that are imported.

Trade deal with India is planned to reduce tariffs by 99 % on goods such as, food, clothing and footwear.

would this be considered a benefit to everyone?

No idea. A link would be good.

Links I can find are:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-to-benefit-from-lower-travel-and-food-costs

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/20/rachel-reeves-summer-bus-rides-food-tariffs-inflation-fuel-duty

https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/rachel-reeves-cost-of-living-food-bus-fares-b2980957.html

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-countdown-begins-uk-india-fta-enters-into-force-on-july-15th

Quote from your first link : "The list of 125 items include garlic, avocados, mangoes, nectarines, vegetable oil, olive oil and baked beans"

Were these items not tariff free when we were in the EU ? Bought from the EU I mean ? Maybe not baked beans because I thought they were grown in the US because of soil type.

From the last link :

"The deal, which is the most comprehensive ever agreed by India, could boost UK GDP by £4.8bn, real wages by £2.2bn and bilateral trade by £25.5bn every year in the long run."

Is that more than 6-8% DDP that the UK has lost because of brexit ?

So 2025 UK GDP was 2.8 trillion. 6% of that is 168 billion. The India deal is expected to eventually add 4.8 billion.

So no sorry. For it to be a benefit it needs to be higher then we lost. And that's not.

Is 6% measured or estimated?

What do Britons think of Brexit, 10 years since the referendum? https://share.google/AdnBFnYl3DQtg69Ke

Is this the yougov poll you are talking about? Where the results arent really what you are portraying...
By the way why dont you provide links to your evidence?

Isn't it lovely that we can quickly cross the border into a new old thread without needing to go through immigration

First result I got on search.

• The NBER (November 2025) estimates Brexit cut UK GDP by 6–8% by 2025, with investment down 12–18%, employment and productivity each down 3–4% (nber.org).
• The Office for Budget Responsibility (July 2025) forecasts a 4% long‑run drop in productivity and 15% lower trade volumes, relative to remaining in the EU (obr.uk).
• The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (April 2025) projects GDP per capita and labour productivity losses of 2–3% by 2023, rising to 5–6% by 2035, along with a 12–13% drop in business investment by 2023 (niesr.ac.uk).

Source :

How Brexit Has Impacted the UK Economy: Growth, Trade, Investment (globalbankingandfinance.com)

I took the 6% number, looked up UK GDP for 2025 and did the ciggie pack sums.

So, they are estimated as opposed to measurements.

The NBER estimates were based on a model that was weighted towards the US by over 60%. That the US has been the largest economy in the world since the late 1800s and has never been, and never will be, a member of the EU makes comparison irrelevant I would say.

Their model excluded both France and Germany. Wouldn’t it be more informative to compare to those countries rather than the US?

julianhjessop.substack.com/p/what-the-nber-gets-wrong-on-the-economic

@Perplexed20

Yes, that’s the poll I was looking at. It lists the key points as:

• 57% of Britons think the UK was wrong to vote to leave the EU, including 23% of Leave voters
• Six in ten Britons think Brexit has been a failure, with the Conservatives and Boris Johnson seen as most responsible for it not being a success
• While 55% of Britons say they support the UK rejoining the EU, this falls to just 35% if the UK had to rejoin without its prior opt-outs, with 43% opposed
• 59% of Britons support a closer relationship with the EU but without joining the EU, single market or customs union, the only relationship backed by a majority of Remainers and Leavers
• Britons expect that rejoining the EU would have benefits to the UK economy, but just 31% feel it would improve their household finances

Looking backwards doesn’t help as time only goes in one direction - forwards.

I am not convinced that polls are accurate based on historical data. However, for those that do think they are accurate, I don’t see big support for the UK rejoining the EU, but for improved relations. That was Switzerland’s approach and seemed to work.

The biggest gripe seems to come from exporters of goods regards administration of additional paperwork. The EU trades with many countries that are not in the EU without such complaints. So, why can it not be made to work for goods trade between EU and UK?

I work in services and have not been majorly affected. Passports filled more quickly than before Brexit, but that’s minor. Hopefully more EU countries will take up the App which allows biometric data to be registered in advance of travel.

Quote : " I am not convinced that polls are accurate based on historical data. However, for those that do think they are accurate, I don’t see big support for the UK rejoining the EU, but for improved relations"

The polls are done "cold though. Cold as in out the blue. It is not something being discussed much. If they are done well, then they are a valid starting point. Start discussing it seriously, and the numbers will change.

And don't forget, about 6 million who voted to leave are now dead.

"YouGov founder Peter Kellner has carried out research concluding that there is likely a pro-EU majority of around 8 million."

Source -

2016 Leave majority 'has literally died out', polling expert reveals (thelondoneconomic.com)

@RedTagAlan

The link you provided was an article dated 2025-12-10. It states, with my emphasis in bold:

Using voter turnout and demographic statistics from the referendum, Kellner said it could be assumed that 5 million of those who have died voted in the referendum.

Of this 5 million, some 3.2 million will have voted Leave.

3.2 million is a bit different to your figure of 6 million. And to claim to know how dead people voted is funny. Maybe the YouGov founder attended 6 million seances? That’s an average of 1,643 per day. Quite an achievement.

The assumed figures are prepared by the YouGov founder, but don’t align with the 9 June 2025 YouGov poll. It estimated 55% are support a rejoin, but falls to 35% if UK did not have the same opt outs as before.

Mixed messages are being received from the EU regards a UK rejoin. Examples include:

Jean Claude Juncker who has stated UK will never rejoin the EU in his lifetime. Link is:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/15/eus-brexit-negotiator-juncker-uk-block-rejoining/

Michelle Barnier indicated UK could rejoin EU with the same opt outs

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/18/uk-could-keep-special-pre-brexit-terms-if-it-rejoined-eu-michel-barnier-says

Other EU members say otherwise

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/18/no-tailor-made-deal-uk-eu-brexit-officials-rejoin

A rejoin would entail,

Although not a legal requirement, a referendum to be sure people actually wanted it.

An act of Parliament to trigger Article 49.

Acceptance of each EU member. This will be the biggest hurdle I would say.

Then possibly years of debate/negotiations on the terms.

I would say that, time, energy and cost would be better spent on finding a solution to the red tape the exporters of goods complain about.

One of the leavers I know sadly died. Her life not having changed one iota as a result of her choice.

Leaving her remainer children and grandchildren, who all now live with her choices.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Did the leaver you knew say why they voted leave?

My mother voted leave. Main reason was more for the NHS as she had worked all her life in the NHS.

So now you are suggesting we can't rejoin anyway. Ahh well, that makes it worse.

The Study about how many Brexit voters have died was well publicised when it came out as I recall, and it's methodology was sound as far as I am aware.

Reasons I was given for voting leave in the first few weeks afterwards

• to kick out the immigrants (person IS an immigrant)
• to teach David Cameron a lesson
• to not have to pay EU pensions (Farage still gets his)