advertisement


Rejoin the EU?

Do you think you'll be unaffected? I'm sure I will be and thus a little more than "curious".

Sterling has lost about 17% of its value relative to the end of 2015 ($1.25 vs $1.50) so the vast majority of the UK is 17% poorer in global terms, whether they realize it or not. Brexit has already been catastrophic for the UK's international image of stability and good governance. I'm afraid we're well beyond the "curious" stage and well into the "dreading how bad it might get" stage.
 
Do you think you'll be unaffected? I'm sure I will be and thus a little more than "curious".

Of course I as everyone else will be affected in some way or other, but I am not particularly worried about it because we just don't know yet whether it will be a success or not.

I know of friends and family members that don't speak anymore because once voted for Brexit and the other voted for Remain and that is just totally ridiculous.
 
Depends on 2024 - if the UK (essentially England) has found the fabled sunlit lands by then voters may shrug their shoulders. If Britannia is shrouded in darkness, voters - and indeed the government - may be more motivated to rejoin the EU.

I don't hold out much hope though. There was an article in the Indie the other day that said that Boris needed to focus on cultural issues and declare "war on woke" to get re-elected. I suspect any debate on rejoining the EU would fall victim to that war.
 
I thought you wanted Labour to win the election! I know, instead of 'Things Can Only Get Better' Starmer could come out in a school boy costume to 'Highway To Hell.'

The correct strategy is to set out what the future relationships look like both with the EU and the rest of the world. I've seen nothing but a gaping void so far, and time is not on his side. He'll be left with no choice but to support the Tories with caveats (as he's doing now) or to oppose the lot which is just a call for rejection of Brexit again. The trouble with the current 'blame Corbyn' strategy is that it misses the real reason for the election defeat.

Which was?
 
At the moment I wouldn't vote to rejoin the EU because we don't yet know whether leaving has been a success or failure and doubt very much we will be to define that by 2024.

I am not someone who thinks the whole world is going to end because we have left the EU, more curious to see how it turns out.

I don't think anyone has said the world is going to end because of Brexit. Most economists (including those working for the Government) have said it will have a negative impact on our economy by between 5 and 10% depending on how the negotiations go, with No Deal being the worst option. Any reduction in the economy will lead to fewer jobs, less tax revenue and more people on Universal Credit. We also lose out on being able to study, work and travel easily in 27 other countries and the benefit of a large number of trade deals that we will have to replace that it is highly unlikely we will even get parity with as we are a smaller size than the EU. I fear that Brexit has hastened our journey towards mediocrity, that living standards and life expectancy will fall considerably over the next 10-20 years and that there will be a brain-drain towards the EU.
 
If a new political party came along, whose agenda was to rejoin the EU, I might vote for it. There's nobody else I'd put my X against, other than the Greens.

I am a socialist but Labour took us into an unjustifiable war with Iraq. They also played a massive part in the Brexit vote. This was thanks to sitting-on-the-fence Corbyn, who was a Brexiteer at heart, and tried his hardest to hold onto the racist turncoat wing of Labour.

Labour are still an embarassment, unfortunately.

It is difficult to predict what will happen. A Covid-19 vaccination might not be discovered before the general election in 2024. In this case, an increasingly dictatorial Tory government might menace its citizens as the economy gets worse and unemployment rockets.

This could result in riots in the streets and a military/police clampdown.

In this mix there will also be the voice of BLM and its detractors. Racism is endemic in England. You see it in the Tory Party, Farage/Robinson/former Labour members/EDL spin-offs and many Brexiteers.

So with no Covid cure, the economy in shreds and increasing racial scapegoating and conflict, I don't think England will be a safe place to live in 2024.

My place will be on the market in the not too distant future. If the UK leaves the EU with No Deal, and Scotland gains independence, I might move there. I hope I'll qualify for the NHS over the boarder.

I am assuming that the £ will be even more f^^^^d than it is now. So much for taking back control.

Brexit and the government's mangled attempt to deal with the Covid pandemic lie in the ugly, racist heart of the Johnson and Cummings Tory Party.

A revolution could take place in the next four years, but there's no guarantee it will be a left-wing one, far from it.

Jack
 
I don't think anyone has said the world is going to end because of Brexit. Most economists (including those working for the Government) have said it will have a negative impact on our economy by between 5 and 10% depending on how the negotiations go, with No Deal being the worst option. Any reduction in the economy will lead to fewer jobs, less tax revenue and more people on Universal Credit. We also lose out on being able to study, work and travel easily in 27 other countries and the benefit of a large number of trade deals that we will have to replace that it is highly unlikely we will even get parity with as we are a smaller size than the EU. I fear that Brexit has hastened our journey towards mediocrity, that living standards and life expectancy will fall considerably over the next 10-20 years and that there will be a brain-drain towards the EU.

But most of your views are based on assumption at the moment. We don't yet know how successful or less successful us leaving the EU will be, so there is little value is making assumptions.

The country voted to leave. Let's move on and allow the EU and UK Parliament do their thing to hopefully make it a success.
 
But most of your views are based on assumption at the moment. We don't yet know how successful or less successful us leaving the EU will be, so there is little value is making assumptions.

The country voted to leave. Let's move on and allow the EU and UK Parliament do their thing to hopefully make it a success.

I am waiting to see what happens because that will impact where I look to emigrate to; Ideally, I would like to live in the EU.
 
The country voted to leave. Let's move on...

In any case, nothing has fundamentally changed with the EU and the strong feeling during the referendum that lead to the NO vote is much the same now and the EU is not going to change just to suit us.
 
I’ll happily apply for a Scottish passport through it being my dad’s birthplace.

You won't need it to live in Scotland. SNP have said they will accept anyone who wants to live there (true), even the English (joke :D).
 
You won't need it to live in Scotland. SNP have said they will accept anyone who wants to live there (true), even the English (joke :D).
I wouldn’t want it to live there.
I’d want it for the EU benefits I would get back.
Presuming Scotland rejoined once independent.
 
I voted remain. But we are where we are - and the potential flexibility outside of the EU is hard to ignore especially at times like these.

The EU itself now needs a good 20 years to settle down into something that looks more permanent. A fully formed Euro with a central exchequer is needed to make it work. A fully formed constitution is needed too - even right now the German constitutional court is telling the Euro bank that it is out of order. I have noted before that some EU ideas have died at the German Constitutional court - how ironic is that? And why the heck does that court get to pontificate?

But, I suspect it will fall apart at the edges before true convergence that create a proper Euro can happen - there is no way to actually get economic alignment between the Northern industrial units and the Southern holiday units.

And Scotland would really want to put itself in ? - The EU would not prop up Scotland in the way that the combined UK does. Won't happen, even if they are a small country the EU are not going to take on net cost entrants for a long time - Brexit has just put a big torpedo shaped hole in the EU budget.

So when the EU has become what it will be, then will be a good time to examine any potential benefits from rejoining. It will take some strong selling to the average Joe and Joan when some of their tax return would be going directly to a central treasury in Brussels.
 
It’s a mistake to think Brexit is an end in itself- it’s part of a bigger assault on liberal democracy. Farage has already moved on with his racist agenda to the fore. We’re going to be hearing a lot more from ‘conservative voices’. They’ve already attacked the judiciary, learned they can shut down Parliament and they’re going after the civil service. It’s a full-on political coup.
 
I have noted before that some EU ideas have died at the German Constitutional court - how ironic is that? And why the heck does that court get to pontificate?
The irony being that it was a clear demonstration of the sovereignty of the member states. Like the time a Belgian province nearly collapsed the EU-Canada trade deal.

I can't imagine a similar situation having happened in the UK, because the UK's fundamental law is a collection of customs and rulings, rather than a single referenceable document. To show that some EU provision is unconstitutional would first mean spending a fortune getting a senior judge to define what is constitutional, and few have the deep pockets needed for that.
 
A thought experiment:

In the run up to the 2024 general election, a grassroots "Rejoin!" movement is formed and gains favourable coverage in the usual liberal media outlets. Perhaps it is accompanied by the formation of a new political party with a flagship policy of rejoining the EU (sort of an anti Brexit Party). Alternatively, the cause is taken up by one or more of the smaller parties.

How does this make you feel? What would you do?

In 2024 there won't be any more grass left...
 
I voted remain. But we are where we are - and the potential flexibility outside of the EU is hard to ignore especially at times like these.

The EU itself now needs a good 20 years to settle down into something that looks more permanent. A fully formed Euro with a central exchequer is needed to make it work. A fully formed constitution is needed too - even right now the German constitutional court is telling the Euro bank that it is out of order. I have noted before that some EU ideas have died at the German Constitutional court - how ironic is that? And why the heck does that court get to pontificate?

But, I suspect it will fall apart at the edges before true convergence that create a proper Euro can happen - there is no way to actually get economic alignment between the Northern industrial units and the Southern holiday units.

And Scotland would really want to put itself in ? - The EU would not prop up Scotland in the way that the combined UK does. Won't happen, even if they are a small country the EU are not going to take on net cost entrants for a long time - Brexit has just put a big torpedo shaped hole in the EU budget.

So when the EU has become what it will be, then will be a good time to examine any potential benefits from rejoining. It will take some strong selling to the average Joe and Joan when some of their tax return would be going directly to a central treasury in Brussels.

We are out now but I think it is worth reiterating that our net contribution to the EU was around £10billion. Our annual spending is almost £900billion. Are you really suggesting that the other 7 net contributors to the EU can’t easily make up the difference? 34p per day per person is what being a member of the EU cost us.
 
You would think so, but the EU budgeting process has been making a big deal about the loss of the UK. Anyway 34p/day/person adds up to a lot.
 


advertisement


Back
Top