Brexit and the seven-year itch: Would voters change their minds?

[patman post]

But if the UK's GDP did fall, you would wank yourself into a nother visit to spec savers

Didn't the UK's GDP fall during the Covid pandemic — and didn't it fall further than the GDP's of other G7 countries?
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/articles/internationalcomparisonsofgdpduringthecoronaviruscovid19pandemic/2021-02-01

Could  be you didn't notice while you were enjoying your old person's flatulence inside your allotment shed...

[Streetwalker]

Of course!! You remainers know exactly why EVERY leave voter voted the way they did. It's a gift you all have. FFS

Though much has been said about why people voted leave nobody to my knowledge has ever discussed why people voted remain . Was it (a) to keep the status quo or (b) to change Europe from within , maybe they were Fedralists (c)and saw a future  that had the EU in charge of anything that matters with Westminster nothing more than a regional council ? 

If they voted remain for anything but c they were lied to and it is they who should be changing their minds 

[Nick]

I'll grant some of those backing leave were opportunistic chancers looking to further their career

Of course!! You remainers know exactly why EVERY leave voter voted the way they did. It's a gift you all have. FFS

[Borchester]

The UK ranks higher than that in the obesity stakes, but that doesn't make it a better country.

GDP is a faulty concept for measuring international wealth comparatively. GDP is too broad and doesn't measure population growth — eg, if GDP in the UK rose 2%, but the population grew 4%, the average income would actually fall...

But if the UK's GDP did fall, you would wank yourself into a nother visit to spec savers

[patman post]

We're so crushed we are the sixth largest GDP and pulling away from France. That's how bad Brexit is performing.

The UK ranks higher than that in the obesity stakes, but that doesn't make it a better country.

GDP is a faulty concept for measuring international wealth comparatively. GDP is too broad and doesn't measure population growth — eg, if GDP in the UK rose 2%, but the population grew 4%, the average income would actually fall...

[Nick]

From my point of view, Leavers were the ones convinced to sell the UK out to a foreign power.

The alleged words of former Russian ambassador to the UK, Mr Yakovenko, after the result:

"We have crushed the British to the ground...They are on their knees, and they will not rise for a very long time."

We're so crushed we are the sixth largest GDP and pulling away from France. That's how bad Brexit is performing. 

[patman post]

Are either of you denying that Russia was pleased with the result of the referendum?

Or that Brexit has diminished the UKs diplomatic and economic power on the world stage?

I think both are the case — Russia just wants to cause disarray in the West, and the UK has less influence and economic strength now it's outside the EU. 

Britain is now an outsider to the EU club and, like other third countries, it and its citizens will continue to be subject to all the restrictions when entering and working in the EU. Each beneficial relaxation will need time and effort.

Resolving the difficulties is likely to be slow — but while the EU might prefer closer associations with the UK in a few areas and disciplines, it's the UK that is likely to have to make the most concessions if it seriously seeks to recover from all the damage Brexit has caused...

[Streetwalker]

Ah once again, the Brexiters rail against the thing they don't understand....the EU.

Foreign policy was and is a matter for the EU member states and not the EU.

Says the one who says we dont understand the EU  . The first thing Von der Leyen said on becoming president of the commission was to call for majority voting on common foriegn and security policies . Indeed the Lisbon treaty has a clause in it (article 31/3) that allows the council by majority vote to make decisions in some areas of foriegn policy . 

Josep Borrell holds the title ,  High representative of the European Union for Foriegn affairs and security policies /vice President .
Hes the guy who is pushing for majority voting with only  Hungary and Poland still wanting to retain the veto . It was  the direction of travel of the EU we warned about during the Brexit debates that was rubbished by Remain .

Hungary and Poland rally allies to defend veto power in EU foreign policy | Euronews

That said the UK benefited enormously from being a big voice in a big block.

Not from where Im standing they didn't 

Take the Falklands, do you think any official EU communication would have ever come out using anything other than the term "Falkland Islands" for them? Nope.  But now, the EU doesn't have to take the UKs views into account. If they decide there is advantage to them being less rigid in that area....

I don't care what the EU call anything but it appears EU foriegn policy has surfaced again in an 'official EU communication ' 

Seems the EU are actively running its foreign office after all Bellbud

[BeElBeeBub]

Well we can only get stronger on that front as we will be speaking for ourselves not having some EU muppet speaking for us

Ah once again, the Brexiters rail against the thing they don't understand....the EU.

Foreign policy was and is a matter for the EU member states and not the EU.

That said the UK benefited enormously from being a big voice in a big block.

Take the Falklands, do you think any official EU communication would have ever come out using anything other than the term "Falkland Islands" for them? Nope.  But now, the EU doesn't have to take the UKs views into account. If they decide there is advantage to them being less rigid in that area....

[BeElBeeBub]

This is the life we should be living according to a leading brexit advocate.....

It's 24 June, 2025, and Britain is marking its annual Independence Day celebration. As the fireworks stream through the summer sky, still not quite dark, we wonder why it took us so long to leave. The years that followed the 2016 referendum didn't just reinvigorate our economy, our democracy and our liberty. They improved relations with our neighbours.
The United Kingdom is now the region's foremost knowledge-based economy. We lead the world in biotech, law, education, the audio-visual sector, financial services and software. New industries, from 3D printing to driverless cars, have sprung up around the country. Older industries, too, have revived as energy prices have fallen back to global levels: steel, cement, paper, plastics and ceramics producers have become competitive again.

The EU, meanwhile, continues to turn inwards, clinging to its dream of political amalgamation as the euro and migration crises worsen. Its population is ageing, its share of world GDP shrinking and its peoples protesting. "We have the most comprehensive workers' rights in the world", complains Jean-Claude Juncker, who has recently begun in his second term as President of the European Federation, "but we have fewer and fewer workers".

The last thing most EU leaders wanted, once the shock had worn off, was a protracted argument with the United Kingdom which, on the day it left, became their single biggest market. Terms were agreed easily enough. Britain withdrew from the EU's political structures and institutions, but kept its tariff-free arrangements in place. The rights of EU nationals living in the UK were confirmed, and various reciprocal deals on healthcare and the like remained. For the sake of administrative convenience, Brexit took effect formally on 1 July 2019, to coincide with the mandates of a new European Parliament and Commission.

That day marked, not a sudden departure, but the beginning of a gradual reorientation. As the leader of the Remain campaign, Lord Rose, had put it during the referendum campaign, "It's not going to be a step change, it's going to be a gentle process." He was spot on.

In many areas, whether because of economies of scale or because rules were largely set at global level, the UK and the EU continued to adopt the same technical standards. But, from 2019, Britain could begin to disapply those regulations where the cost of compliance outweighed any benefits.


The EU's Clinical Trials Directive, for example, had wiped out a great deal of medical research in Britain. Outside it, we again lead the world. Opting out of the EU's data protection rules has turned Hoxton into the software capital of the world. Britain is no longer hampered by Brussels restrictions on sales, promotions and e-commerce.

Other EU regulations, often little known, had caused enormous damage. The REACH Directive, limiting the import of chemical products, had imposed huge costs on manufacturers. The bans on vitamin supplements and herbal remedies had closed down many health shops. London's art market had been brutalised by EU rules on VAT and retrospective taxation. All these sectors have revived.

Financial services are booming – not only in London, but in Birmingham, Leeds and Edinburgh too. Eurocrats had never much liked the City, which they regarded as parasitical. Before Brexit, they targeted London with regulations that were not simply harmful but, in some cases, downright malicious: the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, the ban on short selling, the Financial Transactions Tax, the restrictions on insurance. After Britain left, the EU's regulations became even more heavy-handed, driving more exiles from Paris, Frankfurt and Milan. No other European city could hope to compete: their high rates of personal and corporate taxation, restrictive employment practices and lack of support services left London unchallenged.


Other cities, too, have boomed, not least Liverpool and Glasgow, which had found themselves on the wrong side of the country when the EEC's Common External Tariff was phased in in the 1970s. In 2016, the viability of our commercial ports was threatened by the EU's Ports Services Directive, one of many proposed rules that was being held back so as not to boost the Leave vote. Now, the UK has again become a centre for world shipping.
Shale oil and gas came on tap, almost providentially, just as the North Sea reserves were depleting, with most of the infrastructure already in place. Outside the EU, we have been able to augment this bonanza by buying cheap Chinese solar panels. In consequence, our fuel bills have tumbled, boosting productivity, increasing household incomes and stimulating the entire economy.

During the first 12 months after the vote, Britain confirmed with the various countries that have trade deals with the EU that the same deals would continue. It also used that time to agree much more liberal terms with those states which had run up against EU protectionism, including India, China and Australia. These new treaties came into effect shortly after independence. Britain, like the EFTA countries, now combines global free trade with full participation in EU markets.

Our universities are flourishing, takin

[BeElBeeBub]

I don't know if Russia was pleased with the result of the referendum or if you sold out the UK on a promise to go to the Kremlin and drink vodka strained through Putin's knickers. 

The question on my ballot was:

"Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union"

There was nothing about "making a success of leaving the EU" or "leave everything related to europe" or "never considering rejoining the EU" - did it say that on yours?

We have left the EU, we are no longer a member. The 2016 referendum result has been carried out to the letter.

Unfortunately (and many wouid say predictably) leaving the EU has not produced the benefits it's advocates claimed it would. Equally unfortunately (and equally predictably) many of the downsides of brexit that were forecast have materialised.

We did get blue passports though.

[Streetwalker]

Are either of you denying that Russia was pleased with the result of the referendum?

Dont care one way or another what Putin thought . Only remoaners trawl the internet in attempt to gain support from despots 

Or that Brexit has diminished the UKs diplomatic and economic power on the world stage?

Well we can only get stronger on that front as we will be speaking for ourselves not having some EU muppet speaking for us 

[Borchester]

BeElBeeBub 30 July 2023

Are either of you denying that Russia was pleased with the result of the referendum?

Or that Brexit has diminished the UKs diplomatic and economic power on the world stage?

I don't know if Russia was pleased with the result of the referendum or if you sold out the UK on a promise to go to the Kremlin and drink vodka strained through Putin's knickers. What I am saying is that all the referendum asked was if the voter wanted to stay in the EU or leave.

Maybe you were given a different ballot paper to the rest of us ?

[BeElBeeBub]

Even the Daily Mail is pissed off at the results of brexit.

[BeElBeeBub]

Are either of you denying that Russia was pleased with the result of the referendum?

Or that Brexit has diminished the UKs diplomatic and economic power on the world stage?