Don't forget the Elephants in the Room

It should be made compulsory to vote in General Elections and Referendi (not sure if thats the right plural) Maybe not so much in the local elections. Its not right to allow results to be decided when so many people don't even bother to vote at all.
I used to be one of them but I do tend to vote in these two situations. Also apparently loads of 18 year olds dont bother to vote at all so why give 16 and 17 years olds a vote. They can't drink, they cant get married without parents consent, and they are not officially Adults. The majority of them aren't even able to get themselves from A to B without the help of their Helicopter parents.

Most of the comments on here believe that Brexit was a mistake. You really need to read around more and look at the situation in the Eurozone now. Germany is in recession and France has enormous debts. The so called union cannot even agree on help for Ukraine.

People who voted for brexit are NOT horses to be frightened! How patronizing!

MaggsMcG

The French Government hate England and always have. No idea why. Even before Brexit.

as 'the French government' are only one of many members of the EU, I don't really see the relevance of your comment

3nanny6

Is it Brexit that has seen the closure of three nearby local "Fish and Chip shops" where I live. I would enjoy a lovely fish and chips meal every couple of weeks. the only place now that does a fish and chips is in a burger/curry shop and it is just not the same as the older type fish and chip shop. I thought we would get closer to our older British standards it seems not and out the door has gone the fish and chips tradition I am not impressed at all.

this is nothing at all to do with Brexit! Please tell me you didn't vote to leave the Eu to get 'closer to our older British standards' in Fish and chips?

I may be completely wrong (I am often ) but my understanding is the LP are not currently supporting a “re-join” of the EU, not because they don’t want to, but because we simply couldn’t afford it at the moment.

So much has to be done, we have such huge debt, the govt hasn’t paid out compensation in so many areas and financially we are very short of funds.

Basically I agree with OP (I actually think there are more elephants in the room, possibly a herd...)
I would just like to make a point - so many people say that BREXIT was a democratic decision. Yes it was - based on lies as many 'democratic' decisions are, but fair enough. HOWEVER (sorry for capitals, can't make italics work!), democratic decisions are not cast in stone, for eternity. Governments are elected for a limited term, after which the country is again consulted. Hasn't Brexit had its 'term'? Isn't it time to have another democratic 'visit' to the Brexit question?

I have always believed that voting should be compulsory. Every adult in the country would then indicate their wishes. I also think we should have a box on the voting slip that indicates ‘ none of the above’ allowing voters to reject all candidates. This figure when collated would allow the population to see how many areas are discontented with the prospective candidates up for election.

undines

Basically I agree with OP (I actually think there are more elephants in the room, possibly a herd...)
I would just like to make a point - so many people say that BREXIT was a democratic decision. Yes it was - based on lies as many 'democratic' decisions are, but fair enough. HOWEVER (sorry for capitals, can't make italics work!), democratic decisions are not cast in stone, for eternity. Governments are elected for a limited term, after which the country is again consulted. Hasn't Brexit had its 'term'? Isn't it time to have another democratic 'visit' to the Brexit question?

Yes definitely

I’m with you merseymog!

Merseymog - I totally agree on both points! Did you know that the only other European country which uses First Past The Post to elect its government is.............Belarus! This tells us something. Wee can easily work out the failure of our current system if we look at the way that votes cast are not well reflected in MPs elected.
The Electoral Reform Society has been working on this for a very long time - let us hope a new government of any colour will give us Fair Votes in future.

Absolutely agree with Merseymog. Brexit has been a disaster as predicted by all sane folk.

MaggsMcG. The French Government hate England and always have

Really? Could you explain please. I live in France.

Cossy

I may be completely wrong (I am often ) but my understanding is the LP are not currently supporting a “re-join” of the EU, not because they don’t want to, but because we simply couldn’t afford it at the moment.

So much has to be done, we have such huge debt, the govt hasn’t paid out compensation in so many areas and financially we are very short of funds.

That is right. And to add insult to injury, I’m not sure that our economy is in good enough shape for us being allowed to join in any case.

M0nica

I quote from yesterday's Guardian
The Great Taste awards are a British success story – the world’s largest food awards, celebrating the best products on the planet. But new post-Brexit import controls have forced the organisers to hold a judging panel outside the UK for the first time in the awards’ 30-year history.

Since January, anyone sending meat, dairy or fish products to the UK has to find a vet to fill out a seven-page form showing that the product is disease-free. And since April, exporters have also had to pay a fee of £29 for each product, whether it’s a container full of Irish beef or a single packet of Tayto cheese and onion crisps, unless they are for personal use. This includes the 13,672 samples sent to the Great Taste judges from 115 countries.

Neither the pandemic nor the war in Ukraine will have had any bearing on this decision. This is just one of the decisions, large and small arising from Brexit, and Brexit alone, which are reported daily in the papers.

Another small one, we recently sold a holiday home in France and some of the contents, almost without exception bought or inherited in England and taken to France, were returned to Britain. We had to pay an exit duty of 20% on their value. Why? because we are no longer part of the EU.

... and on top of that UK farmers are being paid NOT to produce food! Many are struggling anyway because of the (I think, geo-engineered weather) ...

So, later in the year there'll be shortages & higher prices than we already have.

There is also talk of a new 'bird flu' being spread by cattle and chickens - wouldn't surprise me if there weren't a cull in the future. After all the Netherlands farmers have been tod they can't produce as much beef because the cows 'fart too much', and it's not good for the environment. That environment that the country producing the most EV's in the world, China, who uses rare earth metals in their batteries (mined by children in the Congo), builds one new coal fired power station every week!

Keep an open mind and have a look at this ...

makismd.substack.com/p/video-climate-the-movie-corruption?r=1jsgu

It's not just here, globally we are going to hell in a handcart ...

“Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.” Henry Kissinger

Merseymog…I agree with everything you have said….
I am British but I live in Europe and was lucky enough to get here before Brexit took away our rights.

Seen from where I live and also personally observed on visits back to family the problem seems to be that a lot of the UK population is just like the pink floyd song ‘comfortably numb’ .

Just how bad do the roads, rivers and hospitals have to get before things change??
What about child support services, prison services etc etc.

When will ordinary people realise that tax reductions mean reduced public services and that they help the rich so much more than those on more modest incomes who are struggling.

The first past the post system, the influence of the right wing controlled media and the general apathy and lack of education for a large propertion of the population have led to a sad decline and produces a country that is constantly harking back to it’s hyped up war glories while reducing opportunities for the young.

'Leaving the biggest free market on earth was one daft decision, that needs re-thinking.'

I was just about to comment on Brexit on another thread and then this popped up. I cannot vote for the party which caused and then pushed through this disastrous decision. It's the worst thing, amongst many IMHO, which has caused the catastrophe which is the state of this country currently.

Like most Scots I voted Remain, but we are now lumbered with Brexit. The N Irish voted against also, and it has caused many a headache for them. What I can’t understand is the Welsh vote for Brexit. I always had the impression they were beneficiaries of EU subsidies. Baffling! I don’t think we can rejoin, though, as we would never get the concessions we had before leaving.

skye7

Merseymog…I agree with everything you have said….
I am British but I live in Europe and was lucky enough to get here before Brexit took away our rights.

Seen from where I live and also personally observed on visits back to family the problem seems to be that a lot of the UK population is just like the pink floyd song ‘comfortably numb’ .

Just how bad do the roads, rivers and hospitals have to get before things change??
What about child support services, prison services etc etc.

When will ordinary people realise that tax reductions mean reduced public services and that they help the rich so much more than those on more modest incomes who are struggling.

The first past the post system, the influence of the right wing controlled media and the general apathy and lack of education for a large propertion of the population have led to a sad decline and produces a country that is constantly harking back to it’s hyped up war glories while reducing opportunities for the young.

Completely agree. The (much maligned by some on GN) French would have been protesting and making their view very obvious!

We don’t govern via referenda, so why ask the public to vote on PR or trading partners? Did we get a vote on joining much trumpeted TPP?

Brexit was always going to be a disaster. Increased costs which are still rising, travel difficulties and curtailed freedoms and security now that we are no longer part of the EU. Those politicians who led the country into disaster are not affected because they have money to protect their freedoms, often having dual nationalty. I know that my life has been negatively affected by it.

Boris Johnson pandered to his bigoted right wing and got us an unnecessarily hard Brexit instead of the softer deal that Theresa May proposed.
There are probably millions who regret their Leave vote now, as well they might.
And, by the way, why not join the European Movement? It was founded by Winston Churchill in 1949 to promote European unity but its current mission is to reverse the calamity of Brexit.
Our electoral system is crude and unfair. Are the British really too lazy or too stupid to understand how PR would produce fairer, more representational governments?
And another by the way, have a look at the Electoral Reform Society.

With due respect I cannot understand why anyone thought anything would go back to 'the way things were' as the result of Brexit.

Apart from anything, what date do they have in mind for 'the way things were' 10 years ago? 20 years? 50 years?

Nothing ever goes back to 'the way things were' it is just the future that changes.

Nigel Farage states the reason Brexit has been a disaster is because it has not bee though through properly let alone enacted as he wanted it to be be. What I don't understand is why some farmers voted for Brexit as it stopped their payments and more importantly affected the number of farm workers from abroad. now crops are rotting due to insufficient pickers ( even daffodils in Cornwall earlier this year). I totally agree that some of the rules we had from Europe were over the top but was the vote it a sledge hammer to crack a nut?

I agree with Merseymog. Looking at the democracy element of the Brexit vote. 17.5 m voted for brexit out of 68m eligible to vote. I feel cheated, I know of only 2 people who voted for brexit