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The UK's Brexit dream is dead

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21–30 of 85 posts

Re: The UK's Brexit dream is dead

#21
post #11
post #9

I expect that the UK will end up rejoining the EU on much worse terms than we had before. Sooner or later it'll happen.

Don't think EU will let them back in.

The EU would let the UK back in in a heartbeat; the current situation really is good for nobody. It would likely lose the special treatment it had under its previous membership, however.

Re: The UK's Brexit dream is dead

#22

I've always thought actually Brexit supported the left much more than the right. I think we see that with two of Labour's key manifesto pledges would be either impossible or very difficult to do with EU/SM membership. Firstly - VAT cannot be levied on private school fees under EU law. Potentially you could argue for some exemption but I think it would be very slow. Secondly - Labour's idea of "nationalising" the UK r…

> VAT cannot be levied on private school fees under EU law.

Given the long history of people the in the UK spouting absolute nonsense about what is or is not possible under EU law, do you have a reliable source for that claim?

Re: The UK's Brexit dream is dead

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it. Politicians and voters will keep pointing the finger at Switzerland and Norway how they succeeded without the EU and that they can too.

Norway is effectively in the EU but without a vote; it's subject to ~all EU laws but does not participate in making them. Switzerland is messier, but it is subject to most EU rules via a series of treaties. The EC considers the Switzerland situation unsatisfactory and messy and would probably be reluctant to do another one (and Swiss business are still significantly disadvantaged vs European ones in trade with Europe…

We know, but my point was that Brexit voters don't know that Swiss and Norwegian deals are basically EU membership fees and obligations on most things but without the voting rights.

Re: The UK's Brexit dream is dead

#24
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't think EU will let them back in.

The EU would let the UK back in in a heartbeat; the current situation really is good for nobody. It would likely lose the special treatment it had under its previous membership, however.

Well Juncker said yesterday that UK can rejoin in a two centuries - maybe. EU leadership is against letting them back in, so I don't know where get that 'in a heartbeat'.

Re: The UK's Brexit dream is dead

#26
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the brightside, this narrative probably contributes to the potential death of the Conservative party today as a plurality of brexit voters are projected to abandon them for Reform. Recent tweet from them: > YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU: Only one party can save Britain from the corrupt establishment. > Today, vote with your HEART and vote for what you TRULY believe in.

I find it remarkable that, if it really is an existential crisis, it'll be because the Lib Dems outnumber them. Just a decade ago it was a terrible alliance with the Lib Dems that put the Tories in power in the first place, setting up Brexit. All they got in exchange was a failed referendum on alternative voting. They proceeded to get crushed and almost vanished. But here they are, potentially taking over from the To…

> All they got in exchange was a failed referendum on alternative voting

Which was sabotaged by the Tories reneging on promises they made to the Lib-dems, and the campaign against it led by Dominic Cummings, using the same "lets spend the money on the NHS instead" lie that he re-used for brexit.

The irony that passing this would have potentially saved them from destruction at the hands of Reform UK (and indeed avoided Brexit altogether) is an added delicous irony.

Re: The UK's Brexit dream is dead

#29
post #16

Anyone who thought the Brexit dream was going to be anything other than a nightmare was either a fraud, or convinced by one.

Oddly, it's not nearly the disaster I anticipated. It looks like an ordinary weak economy, the kind you get from time to time. It's certainly a disaster compared to "we hold all the cards", said by a fraud and many were convinced by that fraud. I hope they are coming to understand that relative nightmare and turn out the fraudsters for a very long time. At the end of that time I suspect they'll find themselves mostly…

> It looks like an ordinary weak economy, the kind you get from time to time.

The real question is, can they get out of it? It's one thing to do it for a few years, but, if nothing else, they can't afford to run current budget deficits forever, and they don't have _that_ much scope for increasing revenue other than growing the economy. And really that deficit is with spending lower than it should be; public services are really struggling at this point.

Like, in some sense it is an ordinary weak economy, but self-inflicted; the government's own office of budget responsibility reckons they've sacrificed 4% of GDP in the long term. For a developed economy, that's not a small hole to climb out of.

Re: The UK's Brexit dream is dead

#30
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the brightside, this narrative probably contributes to the potential death of the Conservative party today as a plurality of brexit voters are projected to abandon them for Reform. Recent tweet from them: > YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU: Only one party can save Britain from the corrupt establishment. > Today, vote with your HEART and vote for what you TRULY believe in.

I find it remarkable that, if it really is an existential crisis, it'll be because the Lib Dems outnumber them. Just a decade ago it was a terrible alliance with the Lib Dems that put the Tories in power in the first place, setting up Brexit. All they got in exchange was a failed referendum on alternative voting. They proceeded to get crushed and almost vanished. But here they are, potentially taking over from the To…

The Conservatives are bleeding support to every other party, not just the Lib Dems. Labour's drift to the centre and UKIP/Reform's attacks from the right and over Brexit have an important part to play here.
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