So many promises broken since the campaign ...

It is time that Remainers were listened to. We are the people who had the good sense to see that leaving the EU would damage the country and we do not have to just accept that it is inevitable. The referendum was flawed in many ways, and only advisory. Article 50 can be revoked.

Most Labour voters, Liberal Democrat voters, Green Party voters and SNP voters voted to Remain - and so did many Conservatives.

Writing in "Conservative Home" ex-army officer Nicholas Mezzei points out that-

"Brexit is now only a year away, and many Remainers will do what they can to keep the UK in the EU, or at least to minimise the damage to the relationship. ....;.l a poll by Survation in March showed that 42.7 per cent of Conservatives who supported Theresa May to be party leader wanted a referendum on the deal, compared to 34.6 per cent who didn’t. The same poll suggests most Conservative Londoners want a second vote, too. Brexiteers shouldn’t be dismissing these people; they should include them, and deliver a Brexit that recognises that nearly half the country voted to Remain. They should look at the very serious accusations of unfair practice, and address them as they would allegations against the Remain campaign."

www.conservativehome.com/platform/2018/04/nicholas-mazzei-why-its-unfair-to-tell-us-diehard-remoaners-to-get-over-it.html

I read a report this morning that Australia are going to insist that the U.K. accepts hormone fed beef as part of a trade deal. The hormone in question was banned by the EU in the early 80s as it is thought to be cancer inducing. If the U.K. agrees to this it will it seems cause British beef to be banned from the EU - so another market closed.

Tom Brake MP, LibDem brexit spokesman, points out that -

"Last year Liam Fox was blithely promising that the Government would be able to roll over 40 EU trade deals ‘the second after midnight’ after Brexit but now he’s reduced to ‘hoping’ other countries will agree to his plan. So much for taking back control.

By recklessly dragging the UK out of the Single Market and the Customs Union, the Government is not only putting up barriers to trade with our largest partner but with 70 other countries around the world as well.

As it becomes clearer that the cost of Brexit is the loss of our existing trade deals, everyone is entitled to judge whether the Brexit that was promised is the one that was delivered and to keep an open mind about whether it’s the right path for the country.”

www.open-britain.co.uk/brake_liam_fox_hopes_he_can_roll_over_eu_trade_deals_so_much_for_taking_back_control

If you don't think election or referendum 'promises' will be kept, luckygirl what do you base your vote on?

I'm not saying that I implicitly believe everything that is said in a GE campaign but if something is in a party's manifesto they can be held to account on it (or used to be, before our parliamentary democracy went all haywire as it has in the last couple of years)

and global standing.

It's this that interests me. We have all the Leavers assuring us that they knew it was going to be financially 'a bit difficult to start with' (which is strange because I don't recall the Leave campaigners mentioning that bit) but did they know that the UK was going to become an international laughing stock and shrug that off too as being worth it to be free of the vile EU?

I never think election promises will be kept, whether it is a general election or a referendum.

It is utterly fraudulent for the brexiters to try to depict themselves as patriots. The real British patriots are those who want to protect our country's future, not just by hoping for a soft brexit, which inflicts the least harm, but by continuing to argue that we should reamain members of the EU.

As Ian Birrell writes in the "i" -
"Britain is carrying out an act of gratuitous self-harm that weakens our economy and global standing. It seems even sillier in a world of rising nationalism, populism and protectionism."

inews.co.uk/opinion/brexit-terms-leave-date-slogan-promises-campaign/

twitter.com/EPinUK

Passports.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/forced-deportation_uk_5abcd2bae4b04a59a314f04e

So much for human rights. No wonder they don't want us to have any.

I should have said in my earlier post that also the Sw of France was not helped by the fact they were in Vichy France and considered to be collaborators and had no Govt money for 50 years and so naturally much of the infrastructure went into disrepair. In the 90s they got funding again and places started to blossom and their tourist industry boomed.

Yes Jen it is disgusting the things they are doing to some people because the Home Office cannot get their act together. The whole of Europe knows how bad they are - it was mentioned in the EU Parliament the other day.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/29/six-months-foil-brexit-vote-parliament-influence-mps

At least they will not be treated like people in the UK.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/government-terrorise-uk-residents-britain

Those towns you mention have so many English speaking tourists in the summer - many have holiday homes here and lots of the hamlets are almost deserted after the summer.
I have not come across many market traders not speaking French unless they are selling crafts etc. Many of the British workmen around here are registered and have siret numbers so are registered and pay tax etc. Everybody I know uses registered workmen whether they are Brits or French. With many jobs if you use a registered artisan you can get a tax rebate on work which is deemed eco friendly - having a wood burner installed or insulating your house etc.
Eymet is very English in some ways which it was not when we bought our house - although we don’t live in Eymet. It was also a decrepit town - as were many in this part of Dordogne - it is the Brits who have renovated the houses and brought these towns back to life. These towns would die again if they were left to the indigenous population as there is little work about apart from various forms of agriculture or wine making which are all seasonal jobs.
People who are in the fiscal system and pay their taxes - or at least file an annual tax return - will find it much easier to remain living here in France than those living under the radar.
I cannot understand why they don’t all learn French - some classes are very basic but there are some good ones about but of course you get what you pay for. We also prepared ourselves by taking French lessons before moving here. The French appreciate it when you do try and speak their language and I have found that the best conversations are often when I speak my far from perfect French and the French person speaks a similar level of English!

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/28/border-exit-checks-records-of-600000-people-missing-watchdog-reveals

This is what happened with immigration when May was in charge of the home office.
No wonder she wanted to give up that poisoned chalice.

If she can't cope with the home office, how can she cope with the infinitely more complex Brexit?

Exactly- but they would never ever accept that their behaviour is just the same ... and they will insist- on calling themselves 'expats' and not 'immigrants'. Pot... kettle.

Like you say, jura, they should learn the language out of respect.
Probably the same people who complain about immigrants not learning English when they move here.

Can't fathom, for the life of me - how anyone can go and live anywhere, for longer than a couple of years- and not speak the local language (not talking about grammatical precision or fancy vocab here - but basic communication).

OH was 63 when we moved here, and he is a scientist and his worst subject at school was French (the only O'Level he scraped with a C)- but he made sure he tried, and learnt- fast- out of respect. Mind you, very very few Brits here ;)

We were in St Foy, Eymet and Bergerac last Summer - and everyone was British with a few Americans. From converstations around us in Cafés and restaurants, mostly living there. As a native French speaker, I of course spoke French to the market traders- several replied, in English- that they didn't speak French.

During the EU referendum campaign I saw some expat Brits living in Spain being interviewed. They said they were going to vote Leave because when they went back to the UK they thought it had changed for the worse because there were far too many immigrants!!!

dj- what is so sad about 'those places' in France - is that they are full of Brits who live parrallel lives- not learning the language, not integrating, buying British food ordered on line and delivered by white vans on a weekly basis, with more white vans arriving with cheap imported UK white goods and kitchens fitted by illegal labour from UK cash in hand- etc. (not all- but too many) - some can't speak the language after years, decades even.

And then go on about immigrants in the UK doing - just that- but call themselves expats-.

I agree Bridgeit

I don’t think it could be stopped, many people wanted to lance a boil of discontent about real & conflated issues . It should never had happened especially without the availability of substantial detailed facts & figures .

The referendum was wrong from the start:

- in its question
- in its impetus and rationale
- in its principles
- in its execution
- in its absence of detailed impartial information for people

But how might we have stopped it happening? I do not know.

Perhaps this post should have been on the BBC bias thread, The Brexit Broadcasting Corporation gets more and more outrageous.