Brexit benefits – lets start a list

Anyway, let’s not get the thread closed due to derailment..

Brexit benefits so far are

1. Pending

2. (see 1.)

Anyone… anyone?

Schadenfreude as all the racist pensioners with homes in Spain have discovered all too late that “send them back where they came from” also applies to them.

@cougar my old man was Spanish resident, UK born and worked in the UK and paid UK tax all his life until retirement at about 55 years old…denied a vote as he was not tax resident in the UK at the time, although we are a british family for as long back as I can track, welsh/celtic to be precise.

He told me for years to get out of the UK after he emmigrated, and I was always like yeh yeh, someday..but now that ‘some day’ has been denied to me due to brexit, unless I can russle up half a million euros to pay for a ‘golden visa’. Unlikely.

How can removing peoples rights by a bunch of insular racists (to freedom of movement for example) be fair or democratic?

Although supprisingly, I do meet what I would call a british football hooligan in spain on occasion still saying that brexit is brilliant, but thankfully not where I am, it’s more a benidrom/alicante ex-pat attitude, which is basivally like blackpol but with better weather.

And cleaner beaches.

As a UK national living in EU.

I can buy 4 bottles of spirits in duty free.

Haven’t been done for speeding through cameras

Most of the businesses I work with now have an office in Europe so I can deal in euros and not worry about exchange rates.

Nothing else jumps out.

I love the ‘duty free’ airport scam. It’s brilliant.

Yes you’re not paying tax on it, but, plot twist,  airports ramp up the prices so much that the tax saving is essentially zero in comparison to buying the product at source and pay local tax on it.

See also sunglasses, and perfumes.

For example a 10x50g pack of tobacco is just under €100 currently, from a local tabac. Thats including tax, and cheaper than tax free, even though you’ve already paid tax on it.

I think 1x30g costs about £20 in the UK currently.

Anyway, we all love a good moan.

let’s not get the thread closed due to derailment..

Brexit benefits so far are…

…

?

let’s not get the thread closed due to derailment..

Brexit benefits so far are…

If it wasn’t getting derailed there would be no posts and it would die anyway.

Reason: there are no benefits (unless you’re a multi millionaire Tory donor then there has been one or two. But for us? Nope.).

Biggest benefit for me is my Pro-Brexit family have gone very very quiet.

Anyway, we all love a good moan.

let’s not get the thread closed due to derailment..

Brexit benefits so far are…

I did mention it a while back but the tampon tax removal was a definite Brexit benefit.
(At the time)

Other than this I’m unaware of any tangible benefit unless you were called Boris, Liz or Rishi as this gave you your dream job.

What are we seven years in…….

There could have been potential brexit benefits, personally I dislike the EU rules about putting public investment out to private tender, allowing corporations to make huge profits from delivering poor services and poor wages. These rules benefit the asset class and not the employed class. I don’t see how the future energy and transport needs can be met while dealing with climate change without a proper public ownership model.

However that was never the brexit that was on offer, in fact the brexit on offer was the very opposite of the required solutions. And even if that was the brexit that was offered, it would have still taken a narrow path to success over many parliamentary terms involving different leaders and political parties, so the probability of success would still have been extremely low.

Pretty much what I was thinking @MSP

You could certainly aspire to a Brexit that offered real world benefits, but those benefits were never on offer, and had virtually no chance of ever being on offer.

Even with a ‘lexit’ we would still have had the trade disadvantages, wouldn’t we? Maybe a soft lexit could have been an overall positive? Of course it was never on the cards as you say.

You could certainly aspire to a Brexit that offered real world benefits, but those benefits were never on offer, and had virtually no chance of ever being on offer.

Let’s go back and remember who was promoting Brexit…

All folk have done is let themselves me shafted for the promise of a few crumbs from the cookie jar so rather than any benefits, which we’ve now pretty much established haven’t occurred, at least for Joe Public, how about naming ANYTHING meaningful that is actually as good as it was in the UK early 2016?

1. In Wales the CAP will be replaced with something better. Hopefully in England too.
2. Kidney cider
3. Schadenfreude

 In Wales the CAP will be replaced with something better. Hopefully in England too.

So is it currently worse than 2016, or just the same?

Also, define “better” – include all ‘stakeholders’ too, as usually for everyone that gets a ‘benefit’ someone else will see a ‘loss’.

Brexit benefits – lets start a list

1. Endless STW debates on the subject
2. See #1

In Wales the CAP will be replaced with something better.

I like the idea of agricultural policy being devolved, because agriculture in the nations is clearly pretty different. Mind you it’s also pretty different across England too.

So is it currently worse than 2016, or just the same?

Its better already.

Also, define “better” – include all ‘stakeholders’ too, as usually for everyone that gets a ‘benefit’ someone else will see a ‘loss’.

Better for everyone on balance, not massively skewed in favour of rich landowners like the CAP.

So I started this yesterday morning and now there are 7 p[ages of comment. I have only skim read them but the benefits appear to be:

1) Everyone* is better off
2) It is possible to have regional variations in farming subsidies**
3) ?

So, I make that 1 benefit for less than 1% of the country and 1 benefit that we had already. Did I miss any?

*as long as you only include the very rich in your definition of everyone.
** It was before but now UK politicians are more vocal about it as it lands with them rather than the MEPs who know one really knew anyway

WRT the tampon tax….

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/16/tampon-tax-retailers-vat-period-products-customers

And if anyone can tell me what the Welsh CAP replacement will be then I am all ears. I work in the industry, I have had some input in the planning of the new scheme, have spent years working in agri-environmental scheme development at an EU level, am in a group of farmers running a charity (to deliver tree planting opportunities to other farmers) who have the ear of the farming unions and the Welsh Assembly, and NONE of us have a clue what the new CAP replacement will look like when it is finally introduced at the start of next year. It doesn’t exactly make long term business planning very easy.

On a different note. We have some friends of Mrs WF over from Germany who arrived yesterday. They said that had expected to find a country on its arse from what the media had been reporting back home but were pleasantly surprised by the state of the place. Couldn’t get over how clean and punctual the trains were n(they are travelling by public transport!) 🙂

Greed is good.
I blame Thatcher’s government cider

Better for everyone on balance, not massively skewed in favour of rich landowners like the CAP.

“But critics warned that big arable farmers were still likely to reap the biggest rewards under the new plans, with meagre pickings for small farmers and those in difficult environments, such as upland and moorland regions.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/26/details-long-awaited-farming-subsidies-overhaul-england-revealed

Seems to be saying otherwise…

Past schemes were simple in that a farmer didn’t need do a lot to claim them. So years ago if you kept x number of sheep, you got x £ amount of payment, Then it was x £ per hectare. Obviously this favoured the bigger farmers in absolute terms but was no barrier to anyone claiming. The new schemes will be very prescriptive and complex and, whilst undoubtedly able to deliver more targeted environmental goals, unless you have a free unit of labour, like a dedicated farm secretary or land agent on the books of the farm you probably won’t be claiming anything. This will intimately mean ONLY the larger industrial farms or landowners like the National Trust or RSPB will end up receiving any public money.

There could have been potential brexit benefits, personally I dislike the EU rules about putting public investment out to private tender, allowing corporations to make huge profits from delivering poor services and poor wages. These rules benefit the asset class and not the employed class. I don’t see how the future energy and transport needs can be met while dealing with climate change without a proper public ownership model.

Remember who it was it campaigned for much of this, oh yes the UK drove many of these EU schemes. Now without the restraining tendencies of some other countries don’t expect things to get better.

WRT the tampon tax…

Yep, its a similar thing with the magical trade deals, the benefits don’t have to be passed on.

In my local all the tradesfolk are fully pro-Brexit as the lower priced and hard working competition have largely left. As a result getting an electrician or plumber or builder is a lot harder and far more expensive than 5 years ago.

So yes, there is a Brexit benefit. A group of workers have put their rates up and have full order books.

See also pub chefs/cooks. Here in Surrey most pubs are crying out for chefs. They are out there but now landlords are saying they want ‘too much money’.

@welshfarmer I have been visiting an organic farm in the Vale with my school and the farmers were happy that a) subsidies were going direct to the farmer and b) they were being encouraged to do sustainable, environmentally friendly farming.

Anyone know how equivalent threads are going on more pro-Brexity forums like Pistonheads? I don’t enjoy going on there as it’s full of smug, selfish, self entitled ****holes and it just winds me up but I’m sure there’s some crossover in membership with those that can tolerate it.

Give me something tangible, anything, I don’t care how small it is, give me something.

It’s not fair mum, we had brexit and I didn’t get my sweeties. Grow up man!

Brexit is/was a political and economic transfer of power at a macro-economic level. The real impact of that will only become apparent over decades, not a couple of years. We don’t really know what the real outcomes will be until we start exercising that power at a macro scale and that hasn’t even started yet. The time to judge brexit will be after one or two terms of a different govt. If after that they have failed to take advantage of their ability to set policy independent of Europe then that will be the point we can label it a failure, but until then we simply don’t know.

TBH as far as I’m concerned if the tories are booted out of power and remain in opposition for the next decade as a result of their incompetence and arrogance then brexit has already done it’s job. Finishing off the tories as a party of govt is a bigger prize than anything EU membership could offer.

Finishing off the tories as a party of govt is a bigger prize than anything EU membership could offer.

Agree with a tinge of be careful what you wish for (i.e. who will replace them, what will they turn into)

We don’t really know what the real outcomes will be

I think we do, in some cases. We know that trade and industry will be negatively impacted. That’s why the whole thing was set up in the first place.

The new schemes will be very prescriptive and complex and, whilst undoubtedly able to deliver more targeted environmental goals, unless you have a free unit of labour, like a dedicated farm secretary or land agent on the books of the farm you probably won’t be claiming anything.

Maybe an opportunity for an agency?

“Do you farm in Wales? Check to see if you have a claim! No win no fee!”

If after that they have failed to take advantage of their ability to set policy independent of Europe then that will be the point we can label it a failure, but until then we simply don’t know.

We had plenty of ability to set policy independent of europe, repeating brexiteer myths about the EU holding us back doesnt make them true

We also had a great deal of influence to set policy from within the EU (the changes to CAP being a good example)

you keep talking about the sunlit uplands if we just wait a few more decades………. what policies exactly do you want to see enacted that we couldnt before

tbf even on pistonheads theres not many so vocally defending brexit, seems to be viewed largely as a mistake, theres a few die hards, but just as opinion polls show, the public is slowly realising its failed

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=92&t=1982344&i=120

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=205&t=2018570&d=0#seperator

We don’t really know what the real outcomes will be

In which case it should not have been proposed until the outcomes were costed and known to be beneficial.

In which case it should not have been proposed until the outcomes were costed and known to be beneficial.

I don’t disagree, but we are where we are. Brexit was always a risky shot in the dark forced on us by arrogant and incompetent tory politicians. But shit happens, and now we have to deal with it. Are we going to let the fact we don’t like brexit stop us from trying to make it work, or are we just going to wallow in a pit of self pity?

Perhaps the thread title should have read, Brexit benefits for the UK and UK residents?  The few advantages are all for other European countries or people living in them!

I wonder how many people who voted for Brexit understood what the EU actually was?

Apparently on the results day, the most common Google search was “what is the EU!”

If you couldn’t answer the above, you should not be able to proceed to answer the question on whether the UK should leave or remain.

Are there any advantages to Brexit for normal middle of the road, hard working people in the UK?

You’ve probably seen me write this before, but “Brexit isn’t the destination, it’s the vehicle”, and one of the greatest Trojan Horses ever.

It’s enabled the UK to move from its (slim) social democratic destination to one that will make life harder for those either not fortunate to be born into privilege or not able to get themselves into privilege through either intelligence, work, education, luck and/or criminal acts.

It is then maintained by making life even harder for those outside this privilege group, and once you’re in it you’ll do ANYTHING not to drop out. Go live & work in the USA for a while, this is our destination – just don’t be poor (or unlucky)…

This is the key “benefit” from Brexit, but only for a very, very limited number of people.

I suppose the question was reasonably open ended and therefore the detail of specifically who a Brexit benefit applies to to needs to be stated.

Those already with money and privilege, and/or looking to create an unequal environment more like America…

Banks/fund managers, Fossil fuel companies and logistics companies looking to hoover up Utilities and public services and run them “for profit” will all benefit from the coming decade or two of slowly loosened laws and regulations and gradually de-clawed regulators.

There might be a slight slow down while SKS has his stint in No.10, but I’m not sure Labour can (or indeed really want to) halt “the project”…

I’m a lorry driver, so got a big pay rise, as a lot of the eastern European drivers left the UK. Unfortunately, everything costs more because of the increased logistics costs.

uselesshippy – how much better off are you now than 7 years ago?

Then:

• Discount 30% of net due to inflation
• Look at your payslip to see the impact of income tax, frozen allowances mean that the 40% rate is moving down the income scale
• Mortgage – same calc, paying more less as a ration of borrowed money

Still better off, oh and add on any costs that previously you never had to pay – on holiday for example, we paid insurance as now not covered in the EU and roaming charges (it all adds up).