Today is the 8th anniversary of the vote to leave the EU

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Amalegra

Brexit could have done great things for this country. Unfortunately it has been wasted by our incompetent government. But I am personally quite content not to be ruled from Brussels nor to have to follow their diktats any longer.

What did Brussels and its diktats make you do?

Boris Johnson might also be interested (on the quiet, of course) to hear - because he once said that our problems were home grown, not caused by Brussels.

yggdrasil

a) it wasn't a vote, it was a referendum
b) There should have been a level of agreement both on the number of people participating, and the majority yes or no. This is what is usual with referenda.
c) the difference between yes and no was minimal, no clear majority shown. And there were consideralby fewer than 50% of the electorate involved
To make it clear, it was a false result, and should have been rerun without the lies on the bus, and we would be a lot better off with a valid result, whichever way it went

Well said!!

Vintagegirl

Oh dear so the new UK passport is black! Why not return to the pre Eu one of navy blue? I am dual nationality but do not see a reason to renew my UK passport. It used to be handy when waved thru at busy European crossings many years ago. I was not allowed to add my children to my passport when Thatcher removed that option in the 1980's as they were not born in England so I let it lapse. Nowadays even babies need their own document.

It’s dark navy, not black.

What a fuss over nothing. Buy yourself a cover in any colour you like if it bothers you that much. 😒

We from Belgium can only repeat what we told you 8 years ago.....you will regret you voted pro Brexit. We always knew only the rich would be better of - maybe.

Brexit could have done great things for this country. Unfortunately it has been wasted by our incompetent government. But I am personally quite content not to be ruled from Brussels nor to have to follow their diktats any longer.

vegansrock

I don’t respect the vote as so many of those who voted leave are now dead. Including my MiL, who voted leave as she “didn’t like Nigerians.” You couldn’t make it up.

How do you know many are dead who voted Leave, do they stamp it on your death certificate 🤔 EU Leaver

cc

Why should the position in Britain be blamed wholly on Brexit when the rest of the world is also in trouble?

No one with a modicum of intelligence is wholly blaming Brexit for our problems, but recognising that in some instances, our leaving the EU has exacerbated them.

I just wanted to make that point - and this one: that some (don't know how many) of us Remainers are not blind to the 'anomalies' created by being a member of the EU. I say that because it's been suggested more than once - on this and on other social media platforms - that Remainers are fanatical devotees of the 'club', oblivious to its failings.

That's certainly not true on my part. I simply believe that, on balance, we were better off in it.

Do we still make payments to the E.U.?

I was on holiday in Majorca so had to go to reception to find out the result as no internet in the apartment ! Went back to OH and said “ well you’ve won you racist b…….,d”
He only voted on the immigration aspect now regrets it ! 🤷‍♀️

It does. I have always thought that the vote was primarily driven by a desire to ‘keep foreigners out’.

Buttonjugs

So sad. People just didn’t understand that the EU was originally set up to make sure there were no more wars in Europe. We benefited hugely from being a member. Most people voted leave because they didn’t want ‘foreigners coming over here, taking all our jobs’. Look how that turned out. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a rise of the far right, because it seems to me we’re going back to square one. Also, if Putin decides he wants to stop interference in his war, who will he target first?

Unfortunately the people who didn't want foreigners taking our jobs were often those who didn't want to do many of those jobs. This was common in East Anglia home where farmers could not get enough homegrown fruit and veg pickers and throughout the country in care homes.

My BIL who had Parkinsons was in a lovely home, owned by Spaniards and the mahority of the workers were foreign.

Prior to gong home he had a regular care worker. Apparently my SIL voted to leave and when she told the careworker about her vote and he asked why, her response was that she didn't like all these foreigners. He said "I am one" and she said "but I didn't mean you".

That says it all.

cc

maddyone

Germanshepherdsmum

Hasn’t affected me either keepingquiet. As Oreo has said, there are other reasons for the increased cost of living. I voted to remain, but frankly when we were able to have the covid vaccine ahead of the EU I was glad we had left. And I wouldn’t now wish to rejoin.

This pretty much describes me too. Voted remain but accepted the vote. There are other reasons for inflation. The war in Ukraine comes mind. I was pleased to get my Covid vaccine in February 2021. I’d only just come out of hospital in January having been hospitalised with Covid and I was keen to get the added protection of the vaccine because I didn’t want to get Covid again.

I agree with you both and believe that the the poor state of economies and the inflation all over the world is due to Covid, Ukraine and various other factors. Why should the position in Britain be blamed wholly on Brexit when the rest of the world is also in trouble?
I agree with others that Tory policies have made things worse, especially those of the economically illiterate Truss and her chancellor, but to hang all the blame on Brexit is not right.
My husband's work often took him to the EU offices in Brussels and we were appalled by the enormous waste of money there, the huge numbers of people employed doing useless jobs, the pointless and expensive trekking to Strasbourg and the fact that proper accounts had never been produced. This is quite apart from the fact that Schengen was already proving problematic in some ways and the farming policy was clearly not working.
For these and other reasons we did vote to leave, as did the majority (albeit a very small majority) and, despite being called all sorts of names by the minority we still believe that we made the right decision.
Incidentally my husband and I both have degrees that include Economics so we have a pretty good understanding of how economies work.

This is rubbish about proper accounts being produced. They were properly audited.

The Court of Auditors gives 2 opinions. Firstly whether the accounts are accurate and reliable - ie true and fair as per UK audited accounts, This has been the case since the 2007 accounts.

Secondly whether there was a material level of error.

The following is taken from fullfact.org. You could the same info if you were prepared to read the actual auditors' reports, which I have done in the past.

Error is not always the same as fraud or waste

"Just because some money is paid in error doesn’t mean people all the people involved have deliberately tried to defraud the EU.

A small minority of the cases that the auditors look at each year involve suspected fraud. The UK’s Public Accounts Committee of MPs has concluded for years that the complexity of the EU’s spending programmes, which creates misunderstandings, contributes towards these errors.

It also doesn’t necessarily mean the money was ‘wasted’, just that it wasn’t paid out according to the rules. One way to run afoul of the rules, for instance, is to award an EU-funded contract directly without holding a proper bidding process. Even though the rules haven’t been followed, it's not always the case that another firm would have been able to put in a lower bid.

The Court explains:

“Our estimate of the level of error is not a measure of fraud, inefficiency or waste. It is an estimate of the money that should not have been paid out because it was not used in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations.”

The most common type of error is when people claim for costs they’re ineligible for, followed by procurement errors like the one discussed above.
It’s not all the EU’s fault, and it gets some of the money back

While the EU is ultimately responsible for its own budget, the majority of the spending is implemented by member countries. Both the EU and member states make similar amounts of error. "

"In the UK’s case, the Public Accounts Committee has criticised the government for designing programmes which add to the complexity of EU spending, and showing a “distinct lack of urgency” in tackling that complexity and reducing the penalties the UK needs to pay back to the EU.

Buttonjugs

So sad. People just didn’t understand that the EU was originally set up to make sure there were no more wars in Europe. We benefited hugely from being a member. Most people voted leave because they didn’t want ‘foreigners coming over here, taking all our jobs’. Look how that turned out. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a rise of the far right, because it seems to me we’re going back to square one. Also, if Putin decides he wants to stop interference in his war, who will he target first?

I agree Buttonjugs that people just didn't understand the history of the EU or the deep security links that we shared with the EU..

We were still living in France at the time of the referendum - on the morning the result was announce I just could not believe what I was hearing. That evening there was a communal meal and fireworks in our commune - when several of us arrived together we were greeted with relief and joy by our French Maire and neighbours - they told us they were so afraid we would not go - none of them could believe what had happened. When the requirement for residential permits then came into force we were all given ours very speedily and with no problems.
We have recently moved back to U.K. - the reason being as we get older we want to be near to our family and thought that we could not expect them to rush over to France if we needed help. We miss our life and friends but have just got to make the best of things.

vegansrock

I don’t respect the vote as so many of those who voted leave are now dead. Including my MiL, who voted leave as she “didn’t like Nigerians.” You couldn’t make it up.

Well, so many of the young did't bother to vote.

One young woman interviewed on TV when asked which way she was going to vote, didn't even know what the EU was! Wasn't interested at all.

My passport is dark blue. UK Passports are blue. This is a non-story.

Joseann

I'm sailing back to the UK this week. My passport is blue - a dark navy blue, not black.

So is mine Joseanne

Vintagegirl

Oh dear so the new UK passport is black! Why not return to the pre Eu one of navy blue? I am dual nationality but do not see a reason to renew my UK passport. It used to be handy when waved thru at busy European crossings many years ago. I was not allowed to add my children to my passport when Thatcher removed that option in the 1980's as they were not born in England so I let it lapse. Nowadays even babies need their own document.

One of mine was 9 days old when they got their first passport.

I have never had any of the children on my passport (or my husbands)

I had immediate family abroad, and we never knew who would be flying/driving or with what child until the last minute.

So many people getting EU passports! I saw a photo of Davina McCall proudly holding up her French one the other day.

I'm sailing back to the UK this week. My passport is blue - a dark navy blue, not black.

Oh dear so the new UK passport is black! Why not return to the pre Eu one of navy blue? I am dual nationality but do not see a reason to renew my UK passport. It used to be handy when waved thru at busy European crossings many years ago. I was not allowed to add my children to my passport when Thatcher removed that option in the 1980's as they were not born in England so I let it lapse. Nowadays even babies need their own document.

I didn't cry but yes I did feel "as if half of my identity had been taken away".

I went to my gym and the young woman in the cafe was nearly in tears about her future plans - but she hadn't bothered to vote as she though it would never happen.....

So sad. People just didn’t understand that the EU was originally set up to make sure there were no more wars in Europe. We benefited hugely from being a member. Most people voted leave because they didn’t want ‘foreigners coming over here, taking all our jobs’. Look how that turned out. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a rise of the far right, because it seems to me we’re going back to square one. Also, if Putin decides he wants to stop interference in his war, who will he target first?

I'm not embarrassed about crying when the Leave result came through. I felt as if half of my identity had been taken away. And I felt angry that so many people had been taken in by the manipulative lies put about by Johnson and his team. The Remain campaign came over as technocratic and failed to appeal to the emotions.