Brexit and its results

[Ondrashek06]

First of all, a statement to the general population of the UK: Thank you for voting for something that only hurts small businesses and makes people go bankrupt.

Like 8 or so years ago, a new store chain opened here. And it wasn't just another chain, it was a chain that imported products from the UK and gave people access to buy interesting food products that you just can't find in any other store here.

Our entire family loved shopping there. I especially liked their tube of jalapeno cheese that I put on various things. Other things included actually good chicken strips, and during Halloween, they sold ULTRA spicy things like a pizza that actually made me cry.

Then they closed the store in my city. OK, no big deal, as there's another store 20 minutes from here. So we continued.

And then, Brexit hit. The result was insane custom fees and stuff that makes it unprofitable for them to sell. They desperately tried to find something, while stores had things out of stock. And then, one day, they went completely bankrupt. All the stores closed and were turned into something else.

New and good food was no more. All that remains is the cheap "second-class quality" shit they sell here. Politicians keep trying to pass laws that forbid manufacturers to sell cheap slop here while they sell the exact same product with a much better quality in Germany, but it still hasn't passed because of corruption.

Some questions to other people: How did Brexit affect your life? Positively or negatively? Why?

 

[Taleweaver]

To be fair, People were misled and/or the politicians were incredibly native going in. The tariffs were mostly a result of leaving the single market, which was sort of promised they wouldn't do. But yeah... The impact that brexit has and will have(not all agreed barriers have gone up yet) has an impact.

For me, the impact of brexit(as a Belgian) i only felt once. Twice if you count internet debates. But i'll get to that.

So... My company basically sets up franchised shops locally, upon request by an owner of a brand. In 2021 or 2022, we had one such job. Prepared the preparation, purchased what was needed, and so on. But one seemingly small detail got something worse: the shopkeepers needed to be trained in the uk. No idea why (we're not doing expert reparations or something), but it was part of the contract. And I presume overlooked for too long. Because deadlines are a thing here: paying rent isn't cheap, good can spoil, ads are timed... But the store didn't open in time. Because to travel to the uk, the shopkeepers needed to get their paperwork done (thanks, brexit) ,and that had a waiting period. Which directly threw a wrench in an otherwise routine operation. No idea why they couldn't bring the teacher here either, but ey... Contact's a contract.
(granted: the fact the manager left the company a month after the training was a stupid thing as well, but that one was our hr department)

Second one... If you want to count it that... There's was our still is a 'benefits of brexit' thread that had been active for some years. Though perhaps intended tongue in cheek, I was genuinely curious on what uk hoped to gain or get rid of by leaving the eu.
I'm still waiting on the first actual benefit. Because rather than an analytical insight in why it could be a good idea, all I got was flak at the eu being evil and bureaucratic. Even mild citric was met with semi personal stuff as if I was Von Der Leyen in person.
As a result, my position changed from 'I hope we'll still be friends' (again: we're pretty much neighbors, so obvious trade partners) to'glad we've gotten rid of those clowns'.
It's not as if this whole 'blame the eu' game ended by leaving the EU either... Now we're being blame for UK being in the same position as other non-members.

 

[spectral]

To be fair, People were misled and/or the politicians were incredibly native going in. The tariffs were mostly a result of leaving the single market, which was sort of promised they wouldn't do. But yeah... The impact that brexit has and will have(not all agreed barriers have gone up yet) has an impact.

For me, the impact of brexit(as a Belgian) i only felt once. Twice if you count internet debates. But i'll get to that.

So... My company basically sets up franchised shops locally, upon request by an owner of a brand. In 2021 or 2022, we had one such job. Prepared the preparation, purchased what was needed, and so on. But one seemingly small detail got something worse: the shopkeepers needed to be trained in the uk. No idea why (we're not doing expert reparations or something), but it was part of the contract. And I presume overlooked for too long. Because deadlines are a thing here: paying rent isn't cheap, good can spoil, ads are timed... But the store didn't open in time. Because to travel to the uk, the shopkeepers needed to get their paperwork done (thanks, brexit) ,and that had a waiting period. Which directly threw a wrench in an otherwise routine operation. No idea why they couldn't bring the teacher here either, but ey... Contact's a contract.
(granted: the fact the manager left the company a month after the training was a stupid thing as well, but that one was our hr department)

Second one... If you want to count it that... There's was our still is a 'benefits of brexit' thread that had been active for some years. Though perhaps intended tongue in cheek, I was genuinely curious on what uk hoped to gain or get rid of by leaving the eu.
I'm still waiting on the first actual benefit. Because rather than an analytical insight in why it could be a good idea, all I got was flak at the eu being evil and bureaucratic. Even mild citric was met with semi personal stuff as if I was Von Der Leyen in person.
As a result, my position changed from 'I hope we'll still be friends' (again: we're pretty much neighbors, so obvious trade partners) to'glad we've gotten rid of those clowns'.
It's not as if this whole 'blame the eu' game ended by leaving the EU either... Now we're being blame for UK being in the same position as other non-members.

It should never have been a public referendum. Its far too complex and issue for the average citizen to fully understand. The public got fed lines about how so much money per month was going to the EU and instead could be used for the NHS,etc. That not much will change as we'll negotiate a great deal. That the UK will be in charge of its own laws. So people voted without understanding what they were voting for. There were also those who used it as a protest vote against the government again without realising what they were actually voting on. Then of course there were those who just wanted it to close the borders. It was a complete disaster from the very start.

 

[Ligeia]

Here we go, another anti-brexit propaganda post...

It should never have been a public referendum. Its far too complex and issue for the average citizen to fully understand.

God forbid people get to choose their collective future in a democratic way ! Look at the great job the so-called "experts" that run the EU are doing...

In the long run the UK is gonna pat itself on the back to have been able to get out of the bureaucratic dictatorship that is the EU.

 

[Taleweaver]

It should never have been a public referendum. Its far too complex and issue for the average citizen to fully understand. The public got fed lines about how so much money per month was going to the EU and instead could be used for the NHS,etc. That not much will change as we'll negotiate a great deal. That the UK will be in charge of its own laws. So people voted without understanding what they were voting for. There were also those who used it as a protest vote against the government again without realising what they were actually voting on. Then of course there were those who just wanted it to close the borders. It was a complete disaster from the very start.

I agree to all of that (except on the referendum... I blame media and politicians for lying on that part... Okay, and the single majority needed).
Just curious why you're quoting me. Most of my post is about what I personally experienced, and this isn't about any of that.

 

[Darth Meteos]

God forbid people get to choose their collective future in a democratic way ! Look at the great job the so-called "experts" that run the EU are doing...

putting things the general public do not understand up for a general vote is not a good call
you don't democratically decide the next project for nasa
you don't democratically decide the war movements of the army

the only reason to ask the general public about something like the EU would be to force a dumb decision like leaving the union through propaganda

 

[spectral]

I agree to all of that (except on the referendum... I blame media and politicians for lying on that part... Okay, and the single majority needed).
Just curious why you're quoting me. Most of my post is about what I personally experienced, and this isn't about any of that.

Sorry, my train of thought was after reading your post and I didn't even really think about it when I clicked reply.

 

[Ligeia]

putting things the general public do not understand up for a general vote is not a good call
you don't democratically decide the next project for nasa
you don't democratically decide the war movements of the army

the only reason to ask the general public about something like the EU would be to force a dumb decision like leaving the union through propaganda

Yeah because choosing the next NASA project and what regime we live under is exactly the same thing and has exactly the same impact. Right.

The UK left the EU despite the pro-EU propaganda, not the other way around. We are taught from a very young age to blindly support the EU and despise our nations. In France we had a referendum about the EU constitution in 2005, against all odds (and all the "yes" propaganda) we rejected it. Nevermind, it was enforced in a non democratic way in 2008.

But yeah, getting out of the neoliberal EU dictatorship was "dumb", obviously. What surprises me is that the UK people were actually smart enough to figure out how toxic the EU is despite being constantly told how great it is and how it must be worshipped. What surprises me is that the UK referendum wasn't just annuled by "The Powers That Be".

When you take a (not even close) look at how the EU functions, it's painfully abvious there's absolutely no democracy involved in this system. All the EU laws are decided by a tiny group of people unknown to the masses, always to protect the interests of the 1%. Members of the european parliament, the people we vote for, have zero real power and are just puppets to maintain the democratic illusion.

I noticed a fun trend here : the clique who always bashes brexit is usually the same who always run to Nintendo's rescue when someone dares criticize them. It's no surprise since in few words it basically shows a pro-neoliberalism, pro-corporate, anti-democracy mindset in which people should be treated as sheep and "dumb" consumers instead of adult and responsible citizens.

 

[Darth Meteos]

I noticed a fun trend here : the clique who always bashes brexit is usually the same who always run to Nintendo's rescue when someone dares criticize them. It's no surprise since in few words it basically shows a pro-neoliberalism, pro-corporate, anti-democracy mindset in which people should be treated as sheep and "dumb" consumers instead of adult and responsible citizens.

this is really odd to say on a website like this
nintendo is popularly-known to have very consumer-unfriendly positions, and especially here they're constantly being held to account

 

[Taleweaver]

The UK left the EU despite the pro-EU propaganda, not the other way around. We are taught from a very young age to blindly support the EU and despise our nations. In France we had a referendum about the EU constitution in 2005, against all odds (and all the "yes" propaganda) we rejected it. Nevermind, it was enforced in a non democratic way in 2008.

Yeah, I remember that one. Was rejected in Netherlands as well, and as a result of those, we didn't held one in Belgium.

I do have to point out that British media isn't exactly pro EU. To them, the EU was a bit of a punching bag of everything that went wrong.

Still is, in fact. Because not being part of the club isn't as fancy as they thought it would.

But yeah, getting out of the neoliberal EU dictatorship was "dumb", obviously. What surprises me is that the UK people were actually smart enough to figure out how toxic the EU is despite being constantly told how great it is and how it must be worshipped. What surprises me is that the UK referendum wasn't just annuled by "The Powers That Be".

The tories mostly profited from it by abolishing laws that protected the people, so those powers that be were at best indifferent. The eu isn't a government, so has no powers over what people want.

When you take a (not even close) look at how the EU functions, it's painfully abvious there's absolutely no democracy involved in this system. All the EU laws are decided by a tiny group of people unknown to the masses, always to protect the interests of the 1%. Members of the european parliament, the people we vote for, have zero real power and are just puppets to maintain the democratic illusion.

True: it's not a democracy but a meritocracy. You and me don't select them: our governments do.
Can't say whom they serve, but when compared to the us or (the irony) uk, i always think our customer protection is the better one. Consistently. So... I'm not a fan meer see, but i just dislike the others more thus far.


... And on that front: do I really have to repeat my earlier example? When I was young, border checks between all countries were the norm. The eu achieved at least that.
Oh, and a common currency. Yeah, it serves the 1%. The rest of the 99% just profiteer from it

I noticed a fun trend here : the clique who always bashes brexit is usually the same who always run to Nintendo's rescue when someone dares criticize them. It's no surprise since in few words it basically shows a pro-neoliberalism, pro-corporate, anti-democracy mindset in which people should be treated as sheep and "dumb" consumers instead of adult and responsible citizens.

No. But nice argument you've got there.

 

[Dark_Ansem]

The UK left the EU despite the pro-EU propaganda, not the other way around. We are taught from a very young age to blindly support the EU and despise our nations. In France we had a referendum about the EU constitution in 2005, against all odds (and all the "yes" propaganda) we rejected it. Nevermind, it was enforced in a non democratic way in 2008.

This is completely and utterly false, the EU constitution didn't became a thing. You are falsely trying to conflate that with the Lisbon treaty, which is a completely different thing. Also, you really shouldn't talk about how "we" are raised to support the EU and despise "our" nations, since you're french and have absolutely no idea how things are taught in the UK.

there was next to zero pro-EU propaganda in the UK, in fact for 40 years politicians used it as a scapegoat for all their consistent failures, which are coming onto light. It's a miracle support shored up to almost 50% of voters, frankly.

Paradoxically, EU politicians are trusted more than UK politicians because they've never been entangled in a constant cycle of scandals, contempt and robberies of the taxpayer. Case in point, the Covid enquiry going on in the UK, which shows what an absolute fustercluck the government was - the government by Alexander de Pfeffel Boris Johnson who admitted in their whatsapp messages they cared more about half-arsing brexit than taking care of the UK populace and who thought COVID was the "way of nature to deal with old people".

You wouldn't get an EU commissioner caught dead saying these words. And the one time a commissioner was at fault, Ireland was able to chuck him out thanks to the ECJ. In Britain, Boris Johnson had to resign despite lying to parliament multiple times and illegally suspending it, because UK democracy is a joke.

Brexit is a failure in the own words of Nigel Farage, the man who desperately needed it to be relevant and now might be forced to do reality shows. You can be a Marine le Pen militant and live in your own delusions, but reality is against you, two-bit Don Quixote - who at least was endearing. The windmills always win against the man mistaking them for giants.

 

[SylverReZ]

I blame the government for causing the prices of bills and food to go up. If only we could've banned the tories to not put up with it.

 

[linuxares]

I'm still all for the Brexit project. I wanna see how well it turns out for the UK. At the moment it seems the like pro-EU side still have the right that it didn't really work out so well. But lets wait and see in like 10 years and what the result was.

 

[Dark_Ansem]

But lets wait and see in like 10 years and what the result was.

Why limit to 10 years, lets keep moving the goalposts infinitely... like that scarecrow says, 50+ years, after all, what is time if not a way to let your birth lottery money grow! It's really "intellectually creative" to say "let's wait" when the benefits of Brexit were touted as immediate and significant, with no downsides.

 

[johnie89]

It's so interesting to see a thread like this active in 2023. I think Brexit was the most politically and economically damaging event to happen to western Europe in the last 30 years. It has destroyed supply chains and has made many people's lives more difficult (including my own). I find it astonishing that people who support Brexit do not feel any remorse for this. Playing with people's livelihoods as an experiment is wrong. Yes one can be sovereign, yes one can vote for selfish things. But that doesn't mean we should. Brexiteers need to see that many people are angry with what they've done and hold them at fault for it.

I don't know if many in the UK can see how the British government has shot itself in the foot. Brexit has accelerated the UK's decline and increased its irrelevancy. Brexit made the EU stronger and more united. It seems obvious to me that with the changing demographics (80% of those in the UK under 25 support EU membership), the UK will eventually rejoin and it will be on far less favourable terms than it had when it left. So what was it all for?

 

[x65943]

It's so interesting to see a thread like this active in 2023. I think Brexit was the most politically and economically damaging event to happen to western Europe in the last 30 years. It has destroyed supply chains and has made many people's lives more difficult (including my own). I find it astonishing that people who support Brexit do not feel any remorse for this. Playing with people's livelihoods as an experiment is wrong. Yes one can be sovereign, yes one can vote for selfish things. But that doesn't mean we should. Brexiteers need to see that many people are angry with what they've done and hold them at fault for it.

I don't know if many in the UK can see how the British government has shot itself in the foot. Brexit has accelerated the UK's decline and increased its irrelevancy. Brexit made the EU stronger and more united. It seems obvious to me that with the changing demographics (80% of those in the UK under 25 support EU membership), the UK will eventually rejoin and it will be on far less favourable terms than it had when it left. So what was it all for?

Blue passports mate

 

[johnie89]

Blue passports mate

LOL, I will say its a pretty colour but I don't think it was worth the billions Brexit cost. Also don't forget the EU don't mandate the passport colour. They could have changed it whenever.

 

[x65943]

LOL, I will say its a pretty colour but I don't think it was worth the billions Brexit cost. Also don't forget the EU don't mandate the passport colour. They could have changed it whenever.

The funniest bit IIRC is the new passports were manufactured in France

 

[Viri]

London was a shithole before Brexit, and will be a shithole after Brexit. Paris is worse though.

 

[Dark_Ansem]

LOL, I will say its a pretty colour but I don't think it was worth the billions Brexit cost. Also don't forget the EU don't mandate the passport colour. They could have changed it whenever.

They're actually black now so not even that.