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UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

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Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#91

Post by rsynnott »

alblue wrote: post #38

Time to emigrate from the U.K. to a more enlightened country. What countries would you go to as an English expat for a better life? Where can you change a useless English citizenship for another?

You can go to Ireland, via the CTA. Live here five years, fill out a very long form, wait an indeterminate time for the form to be processed, and you have an EU citizenship again!(You can keep the UK one, too; dual Irish/UK citizenships are permissible and common).

Also, check for any Irish or Italian grandparents; you may already have won an exciting new citizenship!

Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#92

Post by vimy »

dmje wrote: post #68
Veen wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's perfectly consistent to feel European and also feel that EU membership is not a net positive for the UK. Being pro-Brexit does not make one less of a European.

Um. Finding it hard to parse this..?

The European identity is not tied to the European union but to a shared culture and history. Or are Swiss and Norse people also not European?

Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#93

Post by runarberg »

mtmail wrote: post #54
hedora wrote: post #18

If they decide to rejoin at some point, perhaps the EU could demand elimination of the pound.

Plenty (8 of 27) of EU countries don't use the Euro. Denmark, Sweden, Norway for example.

I think Denmark is the only country that opts out of the Euro, the rest are on track of getting it. Although it doesn’t look like Sweden and Poland are in any rush though.

Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#94

Post by noncoml »

rhexs wrote: post #85
LatteLazy wrote: post #66

Such a waste. A once great nation dragged into obscurity by OAPs, handout addicted farmers and racists.

Not wanting to be in the EU makes you a racist how exactly? Are we using the word “racist” in the same way as it was applied in the last four years in America?

I visit UK often because of family ties. The most frequent answer I get when I ask people why they voted to leave is that foreigners come over and take their jobs and put a strain on NHS, vaguely referencing the influx of Polish immigrants they got when Poland entered the EU.

So maybe not racists, but xenophobes for sure.

Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#95

Post by hndudette »

matthewmacleod wrote: post #46

Little to celebrate here. The main outcome is that it’s now going to be much more of a pain in the arse to perform lots of basic functions that we took for granted. There is now a bunch more red tape involved involved in buying or selling goods or services to other European counties. It’s harder and more expensive to move for work or education, both to and from the UK. The UK now has a customs border inside it’s own…

Wouldn't it be better to replace the EU with an expansive multilateral free trade treaty that encompasses the same states? Why do we need an additional layer of government?

Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#96

Post by [deleted] »

Veen wrote: post #63
Fifer82 wrote: post #60

As a Scotsman, this is a sad day. My only hope is that we leave the Union and that Ireland can work out it's differences and pursue reunification. There is nothing else left for it. A tragic time to be British and nothing to celebrate here.

As an Englishman, I'm entirely in favor of Scottish independence. It would save us a considerable amount of money.

[deleted]

Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#97

Post by Hasnep »

hedora wrote: post #18

If they decide to rejoin at some point, perhaps the EU could demand elimination of the pound.

Since the introduction of the Euro, joining the eurozone is a requirement of being in the EU. My impression is that the UK and Denmark were given opt-out because we were already part of the EU at the time.

Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#98

Post by shirro »

throwaway35345 wrote: post #57
shirro wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except the ex-colonies want nothing to do with the UK. We can smell the fear and desperation. There is nothing in it for us. We aren't going to bail out the UK or take the influx of economic refugees.

> Except the ex-colonies want nothing to do with the UK. But they all signed trade agreements with the UK? So this is clearly not true.

Everyone wants trade with everyone to their benefit. We also want to be friends and play cricket.

But there is no discussion of the other things related to CANZUK in Australia and NZ. We don't want open borders with the UK or to roll back the clock to the empire. Almost everything to do with CANZUK is a fantasy used to deflect from the very real problems associated with leaving the EU.

Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#99

Post by mhh__ »

rhexs wrote: post #85
LatteLazy wrote: post #66

Such a waste. A once great nation dragged into obscurity by OAPs, handout addicted farmers and racists.

Not wanting to be in the EU makes you a racist how exactly? Are we using the word “racist” in the same way as it was applied in the last four years in America?

We're relatively lucky in the UK that our problems with racism are generally subtle enough to be missed by Americans - the EU referendum was fought on seriously dodgy grounds (even ignoring the lying)

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/16/nigel-farag... for example.

With the EU the racism on display is usually against eastern European migrants rather than black people.

That is not to say that even the most hardline Brexiteers are necessarily racists - they're naive and stupid but not racist.

Re: UK formally leaves European Union after 48 years

#100

Post by Arnt »

rhexs wrote: post #85
LatteLazy wrote: post #66

Such a waste. A once great nation dragged into obscurity by OAPs, handout addicted farmers and racists.

Not wanting to be in the EU makes you a racist how exactly? Are we using the word “racist” in the same way as it was applied in the last four years in America?

I think you've got it wrong. Being a racist was a motivation for one part of the Brexit movement — to keep out the Poles and Romanians and all those smelly people. That wasn't an attitude they got from voting, rather, they voted (along with the other brexiters) because they already had the attitude.
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