Ok, we are out, what now?

Also, whilst I think about it... . I wonder if the politicos and uber rich will just keep playing the game until we "exit" (this earthly coil) naturally and the rest forget the result of the referendum. I would so liked to have seen world trade in my lifetime. Open the Whiteway and Ridgeway once again!

There is world trade, CelticRose. I am surprised you haven't noticed how much we get from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA.
In fact, if you dispute the idea of world trade, just go and look at the wine aisle in your nearest supermarket.

You've missed my point DJ to vote in UK elections and this referendum you needed to be a UK citizen. So those who were not even entitled to vote in the first instance were among those petitioning in that useless 'let's have a rematch' petition.

It seems the petition has been hi-jacked by bots. It's a shame the idea in the poll wasn't adopted in the first place and, of course, it's ironic that it was originally set up by a Leaver. At least it's made mes mile a bit. Cameron has, in any case, ruled out a second referendum.

The important thing now is that people get their heads together and make sure that any new government does do what Leave campaigners promised and hold them to account if they don't. We, the electorate, also need to be more aware about any changes to the law they try to sneak in which make our lives worse.

People allegedly voted for 'control' and 'democracy'. They should damned well makes sure they use control and democracy wisely. I'm not holding my breath!

An old saying - "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance".

I didn't realise that people who had lived abroad for more than 15 years weren't allowed to vote, even though they pay tax here. Their pension is transferred into euros and they are getting far less since last week. And they will no longer be getting health care. The woman being interviewed was distraught.My son needs to renew his European health cover as he's going away later this week (he doesn't know about this); we've just been told at the Post Office that it can't be renewed...we assume the girl at the post office has got it wrong.Just the beginning of no one knowing what the hells going on.

Think P.O. girl could be wrong Tegan. I watched the travel expert on BBC breakfast just after the results, about the practicalities, and he said nothing would change re passports and the European health card until we leave (and the issuing of new passports would probably be phased in anyway). Which can't be for 2 years, plus. Check again with someone with more authority, as you wouldn't want your son travelling without the correct cover. I'm pretty sure he said they are still valid and could still be applied for.

Have done breeze;the manager at another PO spoke to me....it can be done online. Thanks.

Of course he should be able to renew it Tegan. Nobody has left anything yet.
We don't know, and won't know for some time what will happen to our health cover as permanent residents in France. The UK will have to sort it out with all the other countries as there are (I think) 3 million Europeans in the UK and 2.5 million UK citizens in the EU. They may decide to continue the reciprocal agreement, or we may have to pay 8% of our income to be fully in the French system, or we may lose it all together. Private health insurance is hugely expensive and impossible for anyone with a pre-existing condition like hypertension, so that will rule out many older people. In which case be prepared for a lot of people returning, who will almost certainly not to be able to sell their houses for a long time. Then there is the drop in income to manage because of the exchange rate, which will be very hard for some.
People keep telling me to be positive, but I am struggling a bit!

If someone has lived abroad for 15 years they are likely to be out of touch with what is happening in this country at grass roots level. I see every reason why they do not have the vote. For most of them who willhave been resident in one country for that time, their decision to stay there, either for work reasons or personal, by definition means a detachment for the UK

I do wonder how many of them are paying UK taxes. Most countries require foreign nationals who have lived in their country for more than a year or so to pay tax intheir country of domicile. The concept of 'non-domiciles' is a particularly British concept.

Although those who retired and moved abroad or spent part of their working careers in Britian will be in receipt of British pensions would know that the value of their pension will fluctuate with exchange rates and they will have, or should have taken that into account when they made the decision to move.

I didn't realise that people who had lived abroad for more than 15 years weren't allowed to vote
That's right, DD was not able to vote although she keeps an eye on what is happening over here.

As for EHIC - I was discussing this today with a friend and we both thought it would be invalid. The website is down, apparently.

Insurance for a young, healthy person should be quite minimal and worth taking out in any case.

My sister has lived abroad for 48 years but paid contributions here right up to her retirement. She owns a property in the UK and pays tax here too, she never gets a vote because of the 15 year rule.

EHICs are valid until we leave the EU, or they kick us out.

We have voted to leave the EU but have not yet taken any action to do so. We will still be paying our dues to the EU and are still entitled to everything that every other citizen of an EU country is entitled to.

I think it's right they don't have a vote after fifteen years living abroad. They're not living with it all are they? Just having property here and paying taxes isn't the same, by a long way.

Of course the blue card is still valid. We haven't invoked the thingie yet, and then there's the two years.

The website has probably crashed because people are making enquiries or trying to renew their cards.

His card has expired....what concerned me was that the girl at the P.O. hadn't got a clue about what the situation was now. Some insurers will only insure you if you have a valid EHIC I believe.

Some insurers will only insure you if you have a valid EHIC I believe.
There must be insurers who will insure without the EHIC because they insure people who travel beyond the EU.
However, knowing what insurance companies are like, they probably give a cheaper rate because they will share the cost, ie when DD had some goods stolen when she was working in the EU, the cost was shared between her travel insurance and our home insurance!!

In 1939, our backs were to the wall. We didn't moan and groan, and stick our head in the sand. We got on with it and won in the end. The only difference then, we had a magnificent leader. Winston Churchill, warts and all. If you want anything, you must fight for it.

Of course there were the Americans who came over and lent a hand-don't think they are going to do that now! Oh and to be historically accurate in 1939 we were part of a Europe fighting Hitler, not on our own, that wasn't until 1941 when the Nazis had over run Europe.

I didn't want this and don't have the heart to fight for it.....let those who wanted it fight for the sort of country they now want.

Yes, Balini, you might consider our backs were against the wall, and as Trisher said, the Americans came over and "lent a hand".

The "lent" bit included the "lease lend" arrangement for equipment and materials that the UK was still paying for in the 1960s and 70s, whilst we were desperately trying to rebuild the country, including rebuilding and re-equipping the railways.

We did "get on with it" to a great extent, but of course we paid proportionately more in Tax and NI contributions, and we had rather more manufacturing as our core industry base than we do today.

60% of the UK GDP is from the services sector, and most of that from financial services - it is much easier to relocate services work to the country with either lower taxes, or tariff free access to resources, including people.

A post referendum survey from the IOD (Institute of Directors) revealed some interesting results:

Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of IoD members think the result is negative for their business, against 23 percent who think it is positive (only 9 percent say it makes no difference);

A third (32 percent) say hiring will continue at the same pace, but a quarter (24 percent) will put a freeze on recruitment, and 5 percent will make redundancies;

1 in 5 (22 percent) are considering moving some of their operations outside of the UK; only 1 percent say they will bring operations back.

From the last point I wonder when Mr Dyson will move his workforce back to the UK, or will the world suddenly be inundated with more of Mr Bamford's earth moving equipment.

This whole process is going to be long and drawn out I feel, and despite Mark Carney finding yet more cash behind the BoE's sofa to stabilise the banks, businesses are busy doing detailed updates to their risk assessment and business continuity planning.

It may be some time before any real changes are seen.

A lot of the politicians on all sides have spoken about migration to the UK being OK, so long as you have a job before you get here, and with a restriction on any in-work benefits under a 4-year wait rule.

But what if you choose to come here to live in retirement, as some British immigrants have done when they went to live in say, Spain? If they didn't have a job, would they still be permitted to buy property and live in the UK?

And, what if we chose to move to retire in France, Netherlands, etc., would those negotiating the terms of leaving the EU include the options for Brits wanting to retire to another country?

I agree Tegan. This is not the result I wanted or worked for, I have no idea what those who voted out want, and I see no reason why I should fight for their ill-defined views. I accept that this is what has been decided but there is nothing that says I have to do anything but passively observe.

This is nothing like 1939. Then we were faced with a clear danger to our country's existence and (almost) everyone joined together in fighting against a cruel and despotic enemy who was threatening the whole of Europe. In 2016 we have decided to turn our backs on a united Europe for various ill-thought-out reasons. Don't use Churchill to argue the case for leaving the EU - he was founder of a 'United Europe Movement' and was never a Little Englander.

Except, railman, that anything that Cameron negotiated has gone. They will have to renegotiate for everything.