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One thing that's occurred to me is the lack of the Scottish Unionists, who are very vocal (see the current Scottish Politics Thread) about staying with in the UK, and seem to have contributed zero Brexit benefits to this post.
Strange...
If I may say, the benefits are:
O/Zilch/none/nadder/nout/Nil point
Makes the odd gammon redder in the face mind...
Meanwhile we as tax payer are paying for the Rwanda scheme that could've of been solved by the Dublin accord. The Rwanda scheme looking like it will cost 400 million plus the costs per person of around 130K. Also remembering the costs of the money we pay to France:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/23/uk-funding-french-migrants-small-boat-border-forces
Seems to be n the region of 480-500million (Tory-graph has it at 480, Guardian 500).
Meanwhile my young lad won't be able to work in the EU nor do what I did for 15 years i.e. 5 years working in Sweden, 10 years in Germany.
So to sum it up, it's total utter B0ll0ck5. Even the Dutch and Hungarians, Polish, with populist Right wing governments are not as stoopid as some of the UK population.
JeZ
The 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak began in the UK (Northumberland), but was started because virus contaminated meat was fed to Pigs on a farm in Heddon. The origins of the contaminated meat are not known, but most likely from Asia (probably illegally imported). There were also strict checks on imported meat products at the time, so I'm not sure if the new set of Brexit checks will make any difference...
Strange…
I think becasue most of the folks who're 'for' staying in the union, aren't motivated by how good it is, but are warning those who support Scots Indy about the dangers of getting what you wish for. The political fallout; which I don't think Holyrood politicians are any more immune from than their colleagues in Westminster, from the Brexit vote should be enough to give anyone pause.
"The political fallout; which I don’t think Holyrood politicians are any more immune from than their colleagues in Westminster, from the Brexit vote should be enough to give anyone pause."
Certainly, the consequences of the Brexit vote have been substantial.
I'm not sure that this provides the support for staying in the Union that you seem to think it does, however. Rather the contrary, in fact.
Fair enough, I don't trust any politician far enough to take the results of a ground breaking decision like Brexit or Indy and not make a absolute balls of it frankly. Scottish or no.
I think the Brexit shitshow should be a warning to anyone thinking untangling an independent Scotland from what's left of the union will be straightforward.
Though I'm not sure tbe indy supporters are making the same daft claims on that which Farage et al did.
It cuts both ways... the Brexit process has shown people...
- The future of Scotland is completely at the whim of the voters in England
- That putting up barriers empowers right wing politicians and ideas in the short term
In some ways the argument for Independence is greater, the idea of a partnership of equals holds even less sway now... but in other ways the fear of the economic, political and social fallout is also greater, and the assumption that a post independence government would be progressive feels less certain...
Something to bear in mind is that there's no Good Friday agreement to guarantee a soft border between England and Scotland. An independant Scotland would have to errect a hard border with England if it managed to rejoin the EU without England.
I work in logistics. The absolute disaster of Brexit in terms of how it has affected my sector has been brilliant for me.
My stock has never been higher as I navigate my company through the quicksand of paperwork and regulation.
So as with all of the Brexit 'benefits' it's a case of 'I'm all right Jack'
Absolute shitshow.
Rejoin ASAP
You cannot tell, but given independence is now so far into the long grass that there is every possibility that England may well have wised up re Europe by then. The current nonsense is surely unsustainable in the long run.
Were there a referendum in the next year or so, that would be a difficult question, but there is not going to be one soon.
My Dutch wife has lived in the UK since 1998. We have 2 children born in the UK, the eldest of whom is 19 and have been married for as long (I'm British). She has had a job since two weeks after she moved here and now earns a 6 figure salary. She has 'settled status' whatever the **** that means as we have now found out that despite paying more in tax than 90% of the UK workforce if we move back to Holland for more than 5 years she will not be able to re-enter the Uk without applying for a visa and satisfying all the same regulations as anyone fresh off the boat. The only way round this is to apply for UK citizenship before we leave at a cost of over 2k and with all the hassle and delay and patronization that entails - have you seen the citizenship test? its hilarious.
And people who voted for brexit wonder why remainers or normal people as I prefer to call them are still pissed off and won't let it go.
Yeah, I'm in a similar situation but I'm the "expat" husband to a Spanish wife, living in Spain. If I ever tried moving back to the UK I'd lose my resident status here, and have to do stupid citizenship tests to regain it.
have you seen the citizenship test? its hilarious.
I have, there's a thread about it somewhere. I did one of the example tests and failed. Curiosity took me to the French and German tests which I passed. There wasn't a citizenship test when I got French nationality and the fonctionnaire ticked the French spoken box without a test. However, they did send the police around to check we were in (I was), junior was at school and find out what the neighbours thought of us.
The pass rate for the British test was 70% and it's 90% for the German test.
I met one Brit whose application for French nationality was suspended because the police knocked on the door, he wasn't in and they couldn't find him. Don't leave the country and keep your phone on during the application period.
21 pages - just checking to see if anyone has found a benefit down the back of their sofa.
Nope. Just in the process of setting up a business in France so that I can export stuff to my UK company 🙄. Anyone who thinks ‘it’s just admin’ can do one - admin increases costs (and reduces bike riding time which I need to get my head round the worry of admin)…
i havent read this whole thread, as Brexit just makes me angry, but at least my shiny new Raaw frame has been sitting in customs since the 11 of April, awaiting customs clearance.
What an absolute treat. thanks one and all for your fine vote for Brexit. Lovin your work.
PS, i hope you get a verruca.
Yeah, I’m in a similar situation but I’m the “expat” husband to a Spanish wife, living in Spain. If I ever tried moving back to the UK I’d lose my resident status here, and have to do stupid citizenship tests to regain it.
There seems to be loads of unintended consequences that have come out the woodwork around this stuff.
I personally think the withdrawal agreement was lacking in safeguards to protect people already residing in the eu.
You’d already voted with your feet and shouldn’t have had your rights removed.
I did one of the example tests and failed.
Years ago an American who worked for me was doing these, we had a team go at them - most of us (Brits) failed.
One question though was just plain wrong; it was a question about East European immigration into the UK in the 19th Century and referred to "Poland".
Poland didn't exist as a country in the 19th Century.
I’m awaiting confirmation of this, but I may have found one for me, at least. If I order my kitchen appliances in Northern Ireland, get them delivered to my mum & dad’s in Ireland, they unpack them and switch them on so they technically become “used”, bung them in the car and bring them to me next weekend, I don’t think I have to pay VAT. It’s tenuous, possibly smuggling and will cost me a ferry ticket, which, knowing the north channel will outstrip any financial benefits, but at least I get to stick it to the man in my own little way.
I'm pretty sure tax evasion and smuggling were amongst the Brexit benefits championed in the run up to the election.
Free ports, I think they called them. So you're just doing your part to Make Brexit Work on a smaller scale. Rish! would be so proud.
The only tangible benefit is that Brexit has laid bare the truth about half the UK population and many politicians are both racist and generally right wing and more than happy to reintroduce transportation.
This is not news to many but i think it has been a wake up caĺl to lots of people (just not enough yet)
We have a long list of what governments and those in power are prepared to do to protect their positions, partygate, Hillsborough, Post Office, Infected Blood, PPE, Miners Strike and the theft of their Pension funds, endless sexual offenders elected to office. The illusion of Democracy.
– most of us (Brits) failed.
A Polish colleague of mine was doing the test, and we all had a go, mostly we all passed - with some of us just scraping through, but its filled with things like "when did The War of the Roses start?", and gives 4 or 5 dates that are v similar or close enough so that any one of a couple might be the right answer, unless you're studying for the test, those sorts of question are mostly just guess work for folks who last did history at school.
Its 1455 BTW, just in case you need to pass the test, you can thank me later.
She has ‘settled status’ whatever the **** that means as we have now found out that despite paying more in tax than 90% of the UK workforce if we move back to Holland for more than 5 years she will not be able to re-enter the Uk without applying for a visa and satisfying all the same regulations as anyone fresh off the boat.
You'd possibly come back? Madness.
Reading all this, I'm so so so happy to have left the UK just before the hard Brexit drawbridge was pulled up....
Still have a UK passport to see my mum in Lincolnshire but also have a German Ausweiss too.
I'll not be coming back to Brexit Island as anything other than a tourist. It has to be the greatest example of national self harm recorded ever.
Still have a UK passport to see my mum in Lincolnshire but also have a German Ausweiss too.
Just an Ausweis? So not eingebürgert?
"You’d possibly come back? Madness"
Probably not out of choice but you never know if there might be a family emergency which requires you relocate - say one of your children gets ill or has an accident etc. I've read about several instances of this happening already to other EU citizens. Its absolutely outrageous that someone who has lived and worked incredibly hard in the Uk for more than 25 years, is married to a UK citizen and has 2 children born here and most importantly moved here under the banner of free movement has basically no right to leave and then return - all because of a bunch of ignorant elderly racists, some posh rich grifters and the Russian mafia.
rickmeister
It has to be the greatest example of national self harm recorded ever.
winston
all because of a bunch of ignorant elderly racists, some posh rich grifters and the Russian mafia.
winston
And people who voted for brexit wonder why remainers or normal people as I prefer to call them are still pissed off and won’t let it go.
+1 I'm still angry
What would be the downsides to being Spanish?
Surely more opportunities for you with a Spanish/EU passport than a British one.
Was meinst?
You need the language proficiency to apply?
Just glad i didn't need language proficiency to get my citizenship in Sweden!
Just back from a trip to Switzerland.
2 more benefits...
- instead of a queue of 2 minutes to get through the EU passport control in Zurich, I got to enjoy half an hour queuing in the total-foreigner non EU line. ****en marvellous.
- because of the even weaker £ to anything civilised, i was able to eat a sandwich costing £11.75. Take away, rather than something single-digit.
Tossers. Hope everyone who voted to leave starves, can't heat their house and has to wait 2 years for NHS treatment.
Tossers. Hope everyone who voted to leave starves, can’t heat their house and has to wait 2 years for NHS treatment.
Many people voted for it because they were already in that position and (mistakenly) thought that Brexit might change things for them.
– because of the even weaker £ to anything civilised, i was able to eat a sandwich costing £11.75. Take away, rather than something single-digit.
The exchange rate is pretty much back to where it was before Brexit. Switzerland is just bloody expensive for everything.
Well, it's back to where it was during the referendum campaign...
"Tossers. Hope everyone who voted to leave starves, can’t heat their house and has to wait 2 years for NHS treatment."
I often indulge a fantasy of mine where we live in this country and all of the benefits 🤣 and costs 🙄 of Brexit applied only to those who wanted this shitshow.
It would be truly marvellous. But, of course, we are all now carrying this pointless millstone around with us.
Sigh.
I can't really say much about Brexit without getting a warning or a ban.
So all I'll say it the only slight amusement I can get from this is the confusion from brexit supporters that literally everything is more difficult and more complicated and more expensive now.
Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face...
^^^^
But generally their next thought is "but I made everything harder for all those snooty remainers too, so that's OK with me".
I agree it is time to stop commenting about it here - my blood pressure and general demeanour can still be affected if I think about it for too long.
21 pages – just checking to see if anyone has found a benefit down the back of their sofa.
I can think of two.
1) The shitehawks who have been pretending not to be racist since the 1990s have found a voice, so we now know who they are.
2) The rest of the world has been given a practical demonstration on how "we were OK before we went in" applies when you've got a cake and want to take the eggs back out. I hope Scotland is listening.
There are benefits to be had. Just, not by us. Most of the EU27 is probably thanking their lucky stars that they're shut of us.
How is this conversation going on a more right wing, Brexity forum, like say Pistonheads? I doubt many have turned, so are they all in denial or is it the wrong type of Brexit and it'd all be fine if it wasn't for those pesky remainers?
The immigration thing is particularly amusing.. Assuming that was a big part of the appeal of brexit in the first place. .. Numbers have actually risen.. And the costs of dealing with with it have risen several magnitudes higher than that.
Yet all we hear from No. 10 is 'stop the boats' ... How about our government actually deals with the problem... Perceived or not.. It would be far better value for the tax payer than coming up with esoteric solutions that not only have zero impact... They actually exasperated it whilst also lining the pockets of a chosen few.
Funny, that.
The rest of the world has been given a practical demonstration on how “we were OK before we went in” applies when you’ve got a cake and want to take the eggs back out. I hope Scotland is listening
The cake has been dropped on the floor and stamped on a few times.
Picking a vaguely intact cherry out of the mess is probably the best thing to do. The cake's gone but at least there's something worth saving.
You can always put it on a cake that is still intact.