If you think leaving the EU was a bad idea, what are you doing about it?

[Woj]

Change doesn't just happen, it's made...

How is the UK going to protect itself?

Are you going to build a wall or protective dome around the UK?

No, the facts are the UK could not apply any cap to limit the number of EU citizens migrating to the EU. They could have imposed transitional controls on the EU accession nations in 2004, but didn't. No cap means no control. Knowing who is coming in an out isn't the same as a national goverment being able to stop people coming in and out.

Cueta, as you well know is in North Africa. COVID too was a special case, the rules have since reverted to normal so there is free movement again. I am opposed to free movement of people.

@Smeuse

How is the UK going to protect itself?

Like it has always done. Use the armed forces.

Russia has no issues with the UK. It was the EU expansion into Eastern Europe that sparked the war in Ukraine.

@LouiseCollins28

I too am against free movement. It can only work if the countries are of similar wealth and earnings. It’s one of the reasons Switzerland will never be a full member of the European Union.

I was working in Bulgaria when the caps were lifted in 2006. Many local trades people were having orgasm over being offered £25K in central London.

What could an ID card do that can’t already be done by drivers license or passport? Both have photo.

That's pretty much what I said.

So, both the government and the electorate were given the opportunity to change their minds, but didn’t.

Which again reiterates my point. Government screwed up twice, as did the electorate.

I applied for and received citizenship of the EU country where I live. Husband got his Irish passport.

Russia has no issue with the UK 😀

No, they are targeting the UK with disinformation, bots, setting fire to a PM's house, Salisbury poisoning, bribing a MEP. Russia was in favour of Brexit.

The UK has a problem with Russia.

Russia is also not too happy with the UK's support of Ukraine.

Their invasion of Ukraine has nothing to do with the EU. That is Russian propaganda repeated by Farage.

I have made a new EU citizen who is also British and will be able to vote in a few years so that’s +1 to rejoin.

My husband and kids have got Irish passports so they can work in the EU if they want. I’m not eligible sadly.

Where did this diagram come from, a link would be nice and it doesn't make a lot of sense without words. I was pro leaving and still think so, the EU turned out to be just another huge layer of very expensive bureaucracy (and corruption) and limited what we could do as a country. There were good points, but more bad. Europe is in as big a mess or bigger than us now, at least we don't have to consult with another dozen or more countries before we can do anything about it.

@Smeuse

Their invasion of Ukraine has nothing to do with the EU.

It has everything to do with the EU. Germany wanted the Eastern European countries to be swallowed into the EU so they could not become part of Russia.

Crimea was taken in 2014 because Russia interpreted correctly that EU expansion into Eastern Europe was an attempt to ring fence Russia. I can say that because I represented the Russian oil operator, Lukoil, at the time.

I never met Putin, but met several of the Oligarchs. They advised the reason they stockpiled oil extracted from Iraq was so they could invade Ukraine and sell oil cheaply to China and India if EU and US imposed sanctions. It worked. EU buys more energy from Russia than they give to Ukraine.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/24/eu-spends-more-russian-oil-gas-than-financial-aid-ukraine-report

Trump recommended that sanctions on Russian energy be lifted since the problems in the strait of the gulf.

EU, NATO and a longing for the old Soviet Union, it's going great for Putin.

How many of those oligarchs are now sanctioned?

And Trump.....

EU, NATO and a longing for the old Soviet Union, it's going great for Putin.

I think Putin totally underestimated the resistance of the Ukraine people. Trouble is, he has no easy way to back out without losing face, not that he is of a mind that he needs to. Sowing unrest via social media definitely helps his cause though.

How many of those oligarchs are now sanctioned?

I suspect they are all crying into their vodka on the sun deck of their yachts while wringing their hands.

War benefits plenty of people, the oil money is flowing.

Never mind all those children, women and men being killed on a daily basis.

It is bringing the UK closer to the EU.

@Smeuse it sure does. Look at Tony Blair and the Gulf war. He didn't do too badly out of that.

Bringing the EU and UK closer together is one of the few benefits.

I rarely post without stating the Source...

In this case, as it says in the graphic, it's YouGov.

@Woj

YouGov is based on samples of about 2000. No way can they be extrapolated to forecast how 48 million registered voters will vote.

Remain cling to polls when they say something they want to hear. It’s desperation.

Living it up in Northern Ireland thanks guys!

I’d vote to rejoin but that’s not on the cards

All Polls are snapshots, including those that favour Reform, or anyone else...

They are all worth the same.

@hahabahbag

Rejoin will not happen. Reason is that EU would be forced to offer UK a deal which is much worse than before Brexit. This would avoid other European countries leaving and then wanting to rejoin on a better deal.

Or even the same deal we had before. Can't see that happening either.

Like applying for a job you had before, but which now pays less than before. Nobody is going to be interested.

I think it's helpful to distinguish between "rejoin" and "join".

"rejoin" which I interpret to mean the UK returning quickly to the EU, on exactly/near-as-dammit the same terms on which we left? I agree with other posters that is unrealistic.

"join" on the other hand I could certainly see happening in the future but there would likely need to be a progression of closer ties over an extended period and real certainty from all parties that any "join" was going to be durable irrespective of who governs the UK (and/or in fact, who leads the EU.)

Those in favour of the UK again becoming an EU Member State (I'm not personally) but I genuinely think the second proposition is more likely to command support from UK voters and other interested parties, though with the downside that it would be far from easily done and take a long time.

The durability point is the really sticky spot IMO. if you have a party/parties commited not to being EU members which enjoy the support of maybe 45-50% of the electorate I think it's hard to say that "join" would be durable.

Mixed views coming from the EU regards a rejoin:

Michelle Barnier indicated that the UK could rejoin with the same opt outs as before.

Poland says the opposite.

Jean Claude Juncker has said that the UK will never join the EU in his lifetime. Reasons he gave were:

The EU is wounded by UK decision to leave. Odd statement to make as every EU member passed article 50 in 2009..

UK closeness to the US is not liked by the EU. US is not popular in the EU. For me, that’s the EU being irritated by the fact that the US imposed higher tariffs on the EU compared to the UK. It shatters the idea that:

Bigger blocs = bigger muscle in negotiations

Your version of join is what, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland did. They trade with the EU, but retained their currency and don’t allow free movement. They are also part of the Schengen zone.

UK can’t be part of Schengen as it is a form of border control which wound contravene the Good Friday Agreement.