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Multiple polls show an ever increasing majority for rapprochement with the EU including the 4 freedoms.
Apart from a few weeks in 2016, this has always been the case. Stifling the UK to placate a minority is ongoing. It’s frustrating, but you need to acknowledge why that is happening, and voice a path to changing that. Just wishing the PM would tear up his promises to key demographics in England that helped elect the MPs needed to form a government isn’t enough. How does any PM propose bringing back freedom of movement, and then get a mandate for that, with votes in England being distributed as they are? A lot has to change before that is possible.
Well, no. Nor 'Norway solutions' or similar, but here we are. ?
Begret steadily building…
Just 10% of 18-24 year olds think it was the right decision.
As we wait for the older Breixiteers to shuffle off, plus the passage of time lending perspective, the understanding of how awful Brexshit has been will grow. The younger generation has been hardest hit, and as they will respond as they mature.
By next parliament elections there will be calls from some of our politicians about rejoining. In a decade there will be exploring of the practical options.
I admire your optimism Matt,but I fear in a decade the EU will be even more splintered as the big disrupters give it ( and the UK) a kicking.
Meanwhile the UK (to me) feels like it is making itself less and less attractive as beneficial partner.
More wonderful evidence of how Brexit was sold vs the reality....
It’s ok - we just need to take back control….& Nige knows how to do it. TL:DR? He hasn’t a fing clue…
Just 10% of 18-24 year olds think it was the right decision
2 things. Thing 1; the 18-24 year olds are the least likely group to vote and thing 2; that figure rises to about 60% amongst conservative Boomer voters who do go out to vote.
Yup, hence any attempt to turn things around wouldn’t get far… either a general election or referendum would have the oldies out to stop any attempt to join the EU, or cooperate with it in any way that means free movement is back (even/especially if that free movement was for young workers and students only). But the direction of travel is clear. Given time the voting population will be demanding the fix that’s needed.
Thr calls from other parties are getting louder. The demographics is bobbins anyway with a huge majority across the country in all areas wanting back in. Even in Farages seat only a small minority think brexit a good idea.
Stop accepting the lies that there is no way back and no majority to do so
There was a thing on P1 (Radio 1 equivalent, but not with the pop music... think BBC1, but radio, as opposed to 6Music) about Brexit. Sveriges Radio had their London chap talk to people and the thrust was more toward that attitudes had changed and there were generally fewer people in favour of Brexit and generally more people that thought rejoining was a good idea.
Note: This was London, this was Swedish radio
And the OBR's other working assumption is that the fall in trade relative to otherwise will reduce the long-term size of the UK economy by around 4% relative to otherwise, equivalent to roughly £100bn in today's money.
From the BBC article
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrynjz1glpo
Hey Rachel, there's some growth over there without the need to expand a ****ing airport
Hey Rachel, there’s some growth over there without the need to expand a **** airport
Yep. But she's not allowed to talk about it and neither is Starmer.
Don't mention the Brexit.
A serious non bexiteer politcians view. Well worth a read if you want an antidote to the brexiteer cool aid that is all you get from Westminster
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/31/scotland-brexit-britain-labour-eu-europe
I fairness Reeves did say brexit had cost a lot of GDP when pushed in a recent interview. Her remedy was to go for growth to replace it. An obvious nonsense
Fundamentally the will to rejoin needs to be overwhelming in Westminster as well as the general pop. We're not there yet. I wish it were different. Get over it. (Speaking as someone who's work is impeded by it on a routine basis)
I will never get over it. The cowardice and outright lies from Labour is so damaging.
Starmer has painted himself into the brexiteer corner and has not got the political courage to break out. Its not weak to say you have made a mistake
There is a vast majority in Westminster for return to the CU. Starmer is now the main person keeping us out. I will never forgive labour until they reverse this damaging policyand apologise for the damage done
Starmer is acting against public opinion.: is compounding the economic damage and is acting against the countries interest. Its going to cost both labour and the country dearly
Starmer says he is not afraid of unpopular decisions. Why not make this popular one?
I found a brexit benefit!
Apparently, in a change of tune, Piers Morgan is pissed off about it.
If I'd known that in 2016 I'd have voted Leave myself.
disagree that starmer is acting against the public's interest. it's a long road back to the EU, even if it's worth going back to, with economic stagnation and right wing politics both becoming more prevalent there. IMHO it's definitely worth it given the situation in the US, and fast, but there are negotiations happening this year, so nothing will happen before then.
Politics is a team sport that some seem to not understand.
Of course it is in the uk interest. Massive boost to trade and security and prosperity and there are no negotiations of any significance happening . Thete cannot be until we actually implement the WA.
that there are going to be negotiations next year is another labour lie. . Its a review thats all.
The WA is not going to be rrenegotiated while we are in multiple breaches of it and haven't fully implemented it. The eu have made this 100% clear
The review next year is not for substantive renegotiation and anyway Starmers red lines mean nothing of sugnificance could be negotiated even if there were actual renegotiations going to happen
Listen to what the EU side say not labours lies they wsnt you to believe
This week’s Countryfile… a summary… it’s all ****ed and going to be more ****ed.
Interesting segment in countryfile this evening:-(
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0027nn4
”Meanwhile, Joe Crowley investigates concerns over new border checks and the impact they could have on farmers and our food.”
Starts about halfway through.
Did we find one? (VAT on private school fees)
As a firm believer in a decent education for everyone I personally see VAT on these fees as a benefit. According to the ruling:
’The judges noted that adding 20% to private school fees would not have been possible under EU law, stating: “This is therefore one respect in which the UK’s exit from the EU has increased the scope of parliament’s freedom to determine policy.”’
the VAT is NOT on School fees. what is happening is that their VAT exempt status as charities has been removed. I see zero reason why this could not have been done under the EU
As part of the Brexit celebrations, I bring you a return to the huge list of Brexit benefits 🙂
To me it looks like the EU does require that all education is VAT exempt. However, the UK was always free to collect VAT on all the portions of the fees that didn't directly relate to classroom teaching.
I'm sure accountants would have had a field day proving that it costs £49,999 per year for a child to sit in a classroom but only £1 for everything else but now this at least simplifies things as you just charge VAT on everything. I'd imagine that's why just having the entire thing being VAT exempt through charitable status would seem like the simpler option for everyone.
To me this is a bit of a non-issue in terms of the country's finances but it is seen as punishing the upper-middle class which for some is important. I'm against private schools (or rather, I'm against state schools being so under-funded that private schools become an attractive option) but this honestly feels more political.
I'm not putting it down as a Brexit benefit because ultimately state schools are still underfunded and this does little if anything to fix that.
I had a lovely banana earlier this week, the top bent in the opposite direction to the bottom. it was sort of mostly straight too.
I'm pretty sure I was told that wouldn't have been allowed pre brexit.
it's great that it's created an opportunity for DrySure to mop up all those surplus bendy banana guards.
the VAT is NOT on School fees. what is happening is that their VAT exempt status as charities has been removed.
Soz Teej, you're wrong. There's no such thing as a 'VAT exempt status for charities'. What is different about VAT for charities is the amount they pay for certain goods, not the amount they charge for VATable sales.
What this legislation does (I think, I am happy to be corrected) is say that private school fees are VATable sales, whereas before they weren't.
I had a lovely banana earlier this week, the top bent in the opposite direction to the bottom. it was sort of mostly straight too.
I'm pretty sure I was told that wouldn't have been allowed pre brexit.
it's great that it's created an opportunity for DrySure to mop up all those surplus bendy banana guards.
I know you're joking of course, but the whole thing about the EU (banning? enforcing? I forget) banana curvature was simply part of a (proposed?) classification system.
It's like eggs, Grade A eggs sold to consumers in the UK/EU have to be whole eggs of sufficient quality with their source clearly labelled; Grade B can broken and then pasteurised; ungraded eggs can still be sold but not for food (eg, they might be used in the manufacture of soap). I could be wrong but I don't recall a public outcry about the EU banning the sale of cracked eggs.
I know you're joking of course, but the whole thing about the EU (banning? enforcing? I forget) banana curvature was simply part of a (proposed?) classification system.
...which, at the time, was appallingly misleadingly 'explained' as 'Brussels Bans Bent Bananas' by one Mr B Johnson, who was then the Brussels correspondent for the Telegraph. Indeed, much of the anti-EU bullshit that persisted for so long in the popular consciousness can be traced back to his 'journalistic' tenure there
Mr B Johnson
Oh, but wasn't he such a character?
I mean he might not always be everyone's cup of tea, but a bit of a rogue is so much more interesting than normal, boring politicians, eh? He really ran rings around those absurd EU bureaucrats, didn't he?
FFS.
Oh, but wasn't he such a character?
The last word there is incorrect but the correct one will get asterisked and also starts with a C.
I know you're joking of course, but the whole thing about the EU (banning? enforcing? I forget) banana curvature was simply part of a (proposed?) classification system.
...which, at the time, was appallingly misleadingly 'explained' as 'Brussels Bans Bent Bananas' by one Mr B Johnson, who was then the Brussels correspondent for the Telegraph. Indeed, much of the anti-EU bullshit that persisted for so long in the popular consciousness can be traced back to his 'journalistic' tenure there
For the avoidance of doubt, the EU legislation simply states: Bananas must be "free from malformation or abnormal curvature".
That's literally it.
Full regulations here if interested 😆 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1994R2257:20060217:EN:PDF
Soz Teej, you're wrong. There's no such thing as a 'VAT exempt status for charities'. What is different about VAT for charities is the amount they pay for certain goods, not the amount they charge for VATable sales.
What this legislation does (I think, I am happy to be corrected) is say that private school fees are VATable sales, whereas before they weren't.
Yep, IHN is correct - parents who pay school fees now have to pay and additional 20% VAT on those fees when previously fees were not VATable.
Soz Teej, you're wrong. There's no such thing as a 'VAT exempt status for charities'. What is different about VAT for charities is the amount they pay for certain goods, not the amount they charge for VATable sales.
What this legislation does (I think, I am happy to be corrected) is say that private school fees are VATable sales, whereas before they weren't.
Yep, IHN is correct - parents who pay school fees now have to pay and additional 20% VAT on those fees when previously fees were not VATable.
Whilst that is kind of funny, from my point of view, it's not really a benefit if it's costing certain demographics more. The point was it was supposed to make things cheaper, any thing, name one thing!
It's not even helping the more affluent! 🤣
As much as it breaks my heart that little Tarquin may have to go to a normal school instead of a posh one because his parents are not rich enough to pay the fees any more, I feel we have bigger fish to fry, as a country, like, I dunno, raising the basic standard of education across the board to negate the need for 'special' schools in the first place?
And while they might get a lot of additional tax revenue from school fee VAT (is 1Bn correct) and that is supposedly a Brexit benefit, it doesn't really address that 40Bn gap in tax revenues cos Brexit reduced trade.
And we'd be able to invest in education across the board if we had more tax to spend.
Indeed, much of the anti-EU bullshit that persisted for so long in the popular consciousness can be traced back to his 'journalistic' tenure there
Yeah something which gets linked to occasionally is Max Hastings "I was Boris Johnson’s boss: he is utterly unfit to be prime minister" and it always leaves me frothing (at the risk of encouraging people to reference it).
He wasnt fit to be a journalist but Hastings hired the **** after the times had sacked him for lying (specifically inventing a quote) he then allowed the **** to spread lies and make shit up because it sold papers and allowed Johnson to concentrate on getting pissed and getting ****ed.
he then allowed the * to spread lies and make shit up because it sold papers and allowed Johnson to concentrate on getting pissed and getting *ed.
I sort of think Johnson is like Clarkson in his writing, they both write well as in an ‘entertaining’ column that appeals to a lot of people, the issue is when his entertainment is taken as fact.
I doubt that Boris never realised in his wildest dreams that the articles he wrote on the EU would end up getting him to the position of PM, he was just running with a thing that people seemed to like so wrote more as it paid the bills.
Unfortunately this continual euro scepticism storytelling sort of set up for UKIP that another grifter jumped on the bandwagon and ran with.
Looks like Windows 10 support is going to last another year, but only if you're in the European Economic Zone (the UK isn't).
Microsoft backtracks, makes Windows 10 ESU program free in the EEA | Windows Central
From bendy bananas (which are fine for sale if they're sold as category 2) to steel tarifs.
I'm sure all the Brexity residents of Port Talbot and Scun-thorpe (sorry Mods about the swear filter avoidance) will be delighted with the Brexit benefit if those nasty smelly noisy polluting steel works get shut. 😐