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The Brexit Thread

No mention of Brexit today. I think the Weasley family mention Voldemort more frequently than the government mention Brexit.

Lowest growth in the G7, diminishing trade with our nearest neighbours, chaos in the Irish sea - the list goes on. Utter madness,
 
I think the reason Brexit isn’t mentioned is because ultimately, what’s done is done. We can’t really reverse Brexit without triggering either another referendum or an unprecedented constitutional crisis, so there’s not really any point in complaining about it. The most productive course of action would be to work with it and see what good can come from it; as the saying goes, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

I did not personally support Brexit, and I am still against it in principle. However, there’s not really anything we can do about it now, and it’s not really worth fighting over, in my view. It’s all done and dusted, and all we can do now is make the best of it.

Also, Brexit is far from the only problem causing the UK’s current situation. As the Office for Budget Responsibility stated to support the Autumn Statement, the UK’s financial predicament was caused primarily by “global factors”, such as the war in Ukraine and COVID.
 
Matt N said:
I think the reason Brexit isn’t mentioned is because ultimately, what’s done is done. We can’t really reverse Brexit without triggering either another referendum or an unprecedented constitutional crisis, so there’s not really any point in complaining about it. The most productive course of action would be to work with it and see what good can come from it; as the saying goes, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

I did not personally support Brexit, and I am still against it in principle. However, there’s not really anything we can do about it now, and it’s not really worth fighting over, in my view. It’s all done and dusted, and all we can do now is make the best of it.

Also, Brexit is far from the only problem causing the UK’s current situation. As the Office for Budget Responsibility stated to support the Autumn Statement, the UK’s financial predicament was caused primarily by “global factors”, such as the war in Ukraine and COVID.
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So we don't even acknowledge the issue? I mean, it's not even mentioned, Brexit should very much be mentioned, because our trading relationship with Europe is something that can be adjusted, improved and built upon. As it is, the government bury their head in their hands.

And you say "Brexit is far from the only problem". Well obviously, there are the mentioned 'global headwinds'. But it certainly is a major impact on our situation, therefore denying this is a farce.
 
Matt N said:
I think the reason Brexit isn’t mentioned is because ultimately, what’s done is done. We can’t really reverse Brexit without triggering either another referendum or an unprecedented constitutional crisis, so there’s not really any point in complaining about it. The most productive course of action would be to work with it and see what good can come from it; as the saying goes, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

I did not personally support Brexit, and I am still against it in principle. However, there’s not really anything we can do about it now, and it’s not really worth fighting over, in my view. It’s all done and dusted, and all we can do now is make the best of it.

Also, Brexit is far from the only problem causing the UK’s current situation. As the Office for Budget Responsibility stated to support the Autumn Statement, the UK’s financial predicament was caused primarily by “global factors”, such as the war in Ukraine and COVID.
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The reason Brexit isn't mentioned is because one party doesn't want to admit they were wrong, the other is scared of alienating potential future voters. Until any of that is admitted and something is done to fix it, the UK will continue to lag behind everyone else.

Yes, there are other global factors that have resulted in a situation that many countries are in, but Brexit has been the equivalent of twisting the knife in that wound to make it worse. Whilst the first pages of the OBR report state that "global pressures" are to blame, there's a rather stark paragraph on page 26:
Near-term growth in exports and imports is lower than in our March forecast as slowing global GDP growth hits exports and a weaker outlook for consumption and investment weighs on imports. Our trade forecast reflects our assumption that Brexit will result in the UK’s trade intensity being 15 per cent lower in the long run than if the UK had remained in the EU. The latest evidence suggests that Brexit has had a significant adverse impact on UK trade, via reducing both overall trade volumes and the number of trading relationships between UK and EU firms
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That 15% could've gone a long way to cushioning the blow of the other factors.
 
The Times are reporting that the government is pondering closer ties to the EU such as the Swiss style agreement.

"Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, last week signalled that Rishi Sunak’s administration intends to break from the approach adopted by Boris Johnson and remove the vast majority of trade barriers with the bloc."

FoM is not on the cards which is likely to be a stumbling block but it's good if closer alignment is being seen as the way forward. That would mark a change in approach from the government which so far has seen divergence as the path it wants to take.
 
Benzin said:
Irony being that the likes of Farage were promoting this as an option during campaigning.
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Brexiteers like Michael Gove said we would stay in the single market during the campaign then went all “extreme” brexit the moment they won. What they campaigned on and what they intended are very different beasts.

The Swiss deal means accepting EU rules with no say on them, which I’m fine with but that’s historically been an anathema to brexiteers up to now.
 
Dave said:
The Swiss deal means accepting EU rules with no say on them, which I’m fine with but that’s historically been an anathema to brexiteers up to now.
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Well the best way to have a say in the rules, is to be in the union and elect decent MEPs to enact things in the interests of our country. Shame we kept electing useless MEPs who didn’t understand this.
 
I do sense the ground is now being laid for the slow, gradual path to alignment.

There's a shift in attitudes toward Brexit too, as recent polling suggests.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
 
Am I correct in saying that this Swiss-style arrangement would effectively be rejoining the EU by the back door without actually going as far as joining?

By that I mean; would we effectively have all the same rules and privileges as the EU countries without being in the EU?

If that’s the case; I’d personally be pretty pleased with that, as I am all for a close relationship with the continent. I was never particularly keen on the idea of Brexit to begin with, and I think it’s fair to say that the harder Brexit that was initially pursued does not appear to have been a roaring success so far. Although I admit that it is perhaps too soon to offer a final assessment of Brexit’s success or failure given that we’ve only been properly “out” for 2 years or so.

However, I do wonder if Brexit voters will stand for it… I feel like doing that would completely go against the platform on which Brexit was initially sold, and it could make Brexiteers feel quite betrayed and like they’re not getting what they voted for.
 
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Switzerland has a series of bilateral agreements, but it accepts many EU rules and has no say in their making. They are able to step back more easily and gradually, though, and this causes confrontation with the EU on an occasional basis.

A believe a customs union between the UK and EU would probably be swallowable by the public, and indeed Labour may pitch this at the next election as they did last time in any case. The referendum was probably won on immigration and that would remain the biggest stumbling block to the electorate. A customs union would also of course get rid of the Northern Ireland issue for the most part.
 
Morgan hasn't got a good thing to say about anyone...apart from his very close, personal, famous, wealthy friends.
His new viewing figure failures now make more news than he does...couldn't happen to a nicer fella!
 
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