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UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

bbc.com

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Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#71

Post by cmdkeen »

djaychela wrote: post #2

I sincerely hope that today (and obviously the day it actually happens) isn't something that I look back on with sadness in the future. I live in the UK, and am really saddened by the way that politics is 'progressing' - in fact, regressing to a time where nationalism seems to be the voice, and one which I think will inevitably lead to conflict. Combined with the Trump situation in the USA, I am extremely pessimistic…

Nationalism may have a voice but it hasn't been defeated on the continent at all. Golden Dawn, 5 Star Movement, Front Nationale, AfD. UKIP are currently polling 10% in the UK and have just lost their only MP (who it turns out only joined them to marginalise Farage in any EU referendum).

There's a case to be made that the increasing centralisation of Europe is provoking a national reaction in members states. You don't have to be Greek or Italian to empathise with why people might not be happy with their situation or the "German" approach to solving it.

I'm hoping that with the return of a lot of powers to Parliaments (be they Westminster or devolved) that there will be more of a distinction between parties and more debate around policies. The public will have to own far more than we currently do - the most high profile recent example is the "Tampon Tax", everyone seems to acknowledge it shouldn't exist but politicians currently shrug and say "Europe". That excuse is going away.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#72

Post by mpweiher »

fredley wrote: post #60
ForRealsies wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU is a novelty in human history. The desire for independence, for better or worse, is human nature.

Independence from what? Should England be an Independent state? London? The City of London?

Kensington and Chelsea. Definitely!

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#73

Post by djmobley »

csmattryder wrote: post #45
te_chris wrote: post #6

Today is the day that David Cameron's legacy is solidified: The hubristic toff who saw his nation as a play thing.

He gambled 64 million people's livelihoods to defend his party against another, that right now, doesn't even have a sitting MP (for those outside the UK, that's the UK Independence Party). There's tables at Vegas that haven't seen that level of loss.

You seem to be forgetting the part where the British people voted to leave the EU.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#74

Post by lhopki01 »

adnam wrote: post #40
mmjaa wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Falklands happened "because of the EU"? Thats news to me. I thought it happened because the UK needs the oil reserves to prop up its broken economy.

Except I didn't say that the Falklands happened because of the EU, did I? It happened because Argentina invaded British sovereign territory, and the British defended it. Interestingly, not a single other EU country aided the UK.

Would this be the same EU that wasn't founded for another 13 years?

While we're putting forward spurious facts not a single non-EU country aided the UK.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#75

Post by skylan_q »

dustinmoris wrote: post #51

I'm a bit tired of reading doomsday messages by now. I am an European living and working in the UK and even though this affects me I have no reason to believe that things will go downwards now. If there's anything I've learned so far then that every analysis I've read couldn't have been more wrong. It almost seems like the more the UK economy doesn't collapse the more people shout even louder how bad the Brexit is. M…

every analysis I've read couldn't have been more wrong

Even though this is true, it goes over the "expert's" heads why there is a crisis of confidence in experts.

http://www.sciencealert.com/stephen-hawking-says-we-re-in-th...

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#77

Post by dev_head_up »

csmattryder wrote: post #45
te_chris wrote: post #6

Today is the day that David Cameron's legacy is solidified: The hubristic toff who saw his nation as a play thing.

He gambled 64 million people's livelihoods to defend his party against another, that right now, doesn't even have a sitting MP (for those outside the UK, that's the UK Independence Party). There's tables at Vegas that haven't seen that level of loss.

> oesn't even have a sitting MP

While technically true, that's deliberately misleading to those not familiar with the UK. That party got 3,881,099 votes (12.7% of all, making them the third biggest in results) but the craziness of the First Past The Post meant that didn't translate to seats.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#78

Post by JamesMcMinn »

dustinmoris wrote: post #51

I'm a bit tired of reading doomsday messages by now. I am an European living and working in the UK and even though this affects me I have no reason to believe that things will go downwards now. If there's anything I've learned so far then that every analysis I've read couldn't have been more wrong. It almost seems like the more the UK economy doesn't collapse the more people shout even louder how bad the Brexit is. M…

You haven't been affected by the changes because nothing has happened yet. This is the start of the negotiations to decide what those changes will be.

And when I say nothing has happened yet, I mean apart from the massive drop in the value of sterling and inflation massively outstripping wage increases.

I assume you're based in London, which means you're fairly isolated from the social changes that have happened across the UK in recent years. London is very pro-EU and immigration friendly. The statistics do show a massive increase in race related hate crimes in the UK since the referendum, so even if the vote wasn't racist, it has given racists a confidence boost.

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#79

Post by SirHound »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #23
Two9A wrote: post #5

Are British HN'ers taking any mitigating steps due to this whole situation? I'm currently in the process of incorporating in the Netherlands, and it turns out setting up a Ltd is a lot more expensive over there than in the UK. I just don't feel that the UK will make good use of my tax receipts any more, so I'm almost obligated to take my work elsewhere.

> Are British HN'ers taking any mitigating steps due to this whole situation? Campaigning for the Liberal Democrats.

I'm a party member - what's the best way to get more involved with the party?

Re: UK triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to EU

#80

Post by topbanana »

dustinmoris wrote: post #51

I'm a bit tired of reading doomsday messages by now. I am an European living and working in the UK and even though this affects me I have no reason to believe that things will go downwards now. If there's anything I've learned so far then that every analysis I've read couldn't have been more wrong. It almost seems like the more the UK economy doesn't collapse the more people shout even louder how bad the Brexit is. M…

I agree with your observations entirely. It seems the UK is gripped by mass hysteria. Close friends of mine appear to believe this is the end of the world.

I'm looking forward to this all being behind us.

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