Brexit Hangover

Economic Times India
Economic Times, India

Well that’s it!  We’re coming out of the European Union. It was a close call.

No jubilations – even for Exiteers: just an exhausting hangover and the reality of Divorce. We’ll have a short period of chaos and name-blaming. We’ll be on our guard against anyone who may take advantage while we’re down. We’ve a tough time ahead but we will survive!  The Dunkirk spirit – Keep Calm and Carry On.

Numb – looking at the headlines from around the world.

Brexit Spain

Sydney Morning Herald

Germany
Netherlands

 

by Categories: Britain, England, Europe, Historical, ShakespeareTags: , , , 51 Comments

51 thoughts on “Brexit Hangover”

  1. I’m just home for lunch, and was scanning some headlines. When I saw that some in London now want to leave the UK, I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh — rather like I did when I saw some of our legislators holdling a 1960s era “sit in” on the floor of the House. i’m going back to work, where I’ll sweat my way through the afternoon. Then I’ll have a little walk among the wildflowers, a nice supper, and some ice cream. I think I’ll avoid any news forum for a bit.

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    • The ordinary Brit has looked the Global Establishment Elite (be they from politics, business, trades unions or the media) squarely in the face and said “my democratic freedom is not for sale”. 
      At the last, that is what 23rd June was all about. The ability to elect and/or kick out those who make the rules that affect our lives and a revolution against the patronising “Nanny Knows Best” brigade. From Trades Unions to Big Business, from overseas leaders promising “punishment” and “isolation” to domestic politicians in their Westminster Bubble so far removed from the woman or man in the street it is almost painful to watch, they have been told democracy is not for sale to threats of economic Armageddon.
      Memo to those who seek to govern: if you patronise electorates for over forty years, deny them a say and tell them there isn’t a problem, don’t be surprised when, at the first opportunity, they tell you the Emperor has no clothes and they give you a bloody nose!”

      Lord Digby Jones of Birmingham

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      • I have a big problem with this kind of analysis, and Lord Digby Jones has his own axes to grind. The Brexit favouring media are owned by an Australian who has his own agenda too and were hugely influential in shaping the Brexit narrative.

        This was a very strategic and calculated manipulation and mobilisation of the disaffected communities across the UK based on triggering people’s deep seated fears and prejudices. The neo-libertarians (Gove, Johnson and the like) have no intention whatsoever of looking after the people who voted to leave…remember the promises of £350million a week to the NHS? Some people believed the money would be spent on the NHS and in good faith voted accordingly. Instead the ‘new look’ government will recover the £350million (when they are allowed to) and divert it to a market-led economy (‘Britain first’ remember) – precious little of this will be diverted into improved or sustained public services or to providing infrastructure for the poorest parts of the UK (e.g. Cornwall and Wales which currently benefit from large EU funds).

        The simple analysis is that many (quite rightly) angry citizens were duped by cynical politicians into blaming the EU for all our woes.

        There was little mention during campaigning of the banking crisis, or our own Government’s decisions to strangle public services (not an EU decision) – the causes of most of the current discomfort and discord in the country, particularly hard felt in poorer areas (Brexiters?) – but loads of talk about the curve of bananas…for heaven’s sake.

        Immigration is a terrible problem for many communities, but there are ways to handle that which are not simply limited to stopping ‘them’ coming (I work with a great many Europeans who contribute greatly to our society and pay taxes and have relationships and families here. They, we, are Europeans).

        Mass migration from other parts of the world (which will be amplified by climate change that Farage doesn’t believe in) will be an issue for every country in the world irrespective of EU membership. As the now sixth largest economy (France just overtook us this week) in the world we will still be duty bound to be part of the population migration solution, but from an isolated and probably compromised standpoint.

        The most interesting cultural divides that have emerged in the way the votes went are, generally speaking, between the young (remain) and old (leave) and the well educated (remain) and the less well educated (leave) – not mentioned by Lord Digby.

        This is a terrible mistake. Just getting on with it will be troublesome. I will do everything in my power to hold the ‘new government’ to account and to support those in our society who most need it. New strategies are being formed and new battle lines emerging. Exhausting and even tougher times to look forward to.

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      • I do honesty agree with a lot of what you say. But we really must get on with it now to save our Country – we are all at sea and need someone at the helm quickly and I do hope its Theresa May (the lesser of the evils) and not Boris. Later we can hold the liars to account. However if you read my comments under Ray Laskowitz comments – I think this may be a big step towards anti-globalisation – even though this was not the original intention of the OUT voters.

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      • You are right. Steadying the ship though is for Parliament. Just now, I shall remain constructively angry. If I let go of the passion, I and others shall simply conform and they’ll get away with murder under the banner of ‘getting Britain back on its feet’. They did it after the banking crisis – so many of my public sector colleagues lost their jobs, because of the ideological decisions to slash public spending. At least this time there is hardly anything left to slash.

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      • ‘Constructively angry’ is different. That is a positive thing. It should bring out some interesting street art too. I am still suffering from the banking crisis – I haven’t got back on my feet from it yet.

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      • A typo. The whole world hurts.

        That said, it appears you have no idea of the ramifications of this referendum. At the very least, England and Wales will be on their own. Scotland, who came close to breaking away once, will do it now.

        Business and industry will be forever changed and not for the better. What will remain of the UK, will lose billions of dollars/pounds in the long term. Everybody will suffer equally, but in my world which is profession arts and music, everyone will pay for this.

        Doing international business will become more expensive and complicated.

        In the near term, worldwide stock markets have plunged, the Pound has lost value which likely won’t return anytime soon. Your passport has already fallen from the top five, to somewhere in the middle 30s as far as usefulness goes.

        And, you think Brexit is good thing?

        Oh, and the guy in the lead to be your next Prime Minister is Boris Johnson? That’s just what the world needs. A babbling clown. A Donald Trump who speaks the Queen’s English.

        And, you’re worried about curly cucumbers? Sheesh.

        Luckily, it’ll take two years to completely disengage from the EU from the time Parliament invokes Article 50 and they don’t seem to be in a hurry to do that. If what I read on the BBC and your own news sources is correct, there seems to me a lot of buyer’s remorse from the “Leave” leaders than you might know.

        Good Luck.

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      • It is interesting how you can predict the future and you seem to be blaming me, so I will give as direct an answer as possible.
        Our country is certainly divided as this Referendum has split us down the middle. This is mainly because over the past decade the gap between rich and poor, especially in England has grown, in a similar manner to other EU countries. My vote was a difficult decision that I did not make lightly. I do not think Brexit “a good thing”, but a decision has been made and we must make the most of it as quickly as possible instead of moaning. Most of us did not realise how much the whole World were using London as an entry point to trading with the EU. Only the Billionaires who have ousted real Londoners from their homes in London have benefited from that trade. The cash has not trickled down to the rest of the Country. The EU instead of being honest now, and opening their front door to world trade will I expect choose another backdoor City like Luxembourg or Paris instead for trade. That is if there is not a Frexit, Nexit, Grexit, Italeave or a Departugal etc. now that they realise how much they have been conned. Here in Southampton we were once “Home of the Ford Transit” one of my first posts: https://southamptonoldlady.wordpress.com/tag/ford-transit/ We now discover that that the EU handed over €190m of funding to a Bulgarian glass table firm to set up a a new Ford Transit firm in Turkey to use cheap labour (no minimum wage there). Likewise fish off our own Port was only allowed to be fished by the French who sold it to us at double the price they charged in their own country.
        Boris Johnson is not the next Prime Minister, he is just a candidate. A new PM has to be chosen from the Conservative Party and they don’t like him. (Yes he is a babbling clown) so I doubt it – it is more likely to be Theresa May. It will be another few years before we people ourselves can vote for another PM.
        I follow the BBC and read newspapers and do not feel that they have their pulse on what the people I meet every day think. I think the New York Times readers comments have it better.
        Although it was not everyone’s intention – history may look back on Brexit as the first step in anti-globalisation.

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  4. I have spent 10 years saving to buy a little house of my own. The nonsensical and unthinking British majority caused the value of money to so collapse that once again the dream of having my own place has become a pipe dream. I wish Britain nothing but misery and poverty – the selfish pricks.

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  5. Glad it’s all over; it was a dishonest, dispiriting, horrible campaign at times, but we’ll survive, and given the choice of remaining shackled to a failing European superstate for decades to come, and governing ourselves, well, I prefer the latter. The people have spoken, and shock that it may be to the political establishment, it is the democratic will of the people.

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  6. Those who complain noisily about the unelected bureaucrats in the EU seem to forget the unelected mob in the House of Lords. I don’t like bankers who’ve paid enormous sums to political parties to get a gong, celebs. and sportspeople who are in favour at some time or another and are given a title as a sop to ‘the people’, hangers-on in Parliament, friends of friends to whom a favour is owed, writers (yes, you, Jeffrey Archer), donors of large sums to the major parties, and the Bishops, le’ts not forget the 24 Bishops – only Church of England of course, thus ensuring the continuance of bias in religious affairs – who sit in judgment on my life.

    The words ‘pot’, and ‘kettle’ spring to mind.

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  8. It’s all anyone talked about at work. Even though this is North America, we too are wondering what this means for us. I have wondered for years when Britain would pull out of the EU. They never changed over to the Euro and there are significant historical problems between Britain and several of the countries who are telling Britain to get out now. I hope the best to everyonee in this situation.

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  9. Having had a good night’s sleep after the upset of the Brexit, I then looked at the situation I am stuck with, and it’s not all bad. We do get rid of some ridiculous rules and regulations. (I can now have a curly cucumber!) We do stop paying for packing up and moving the EU parliament back and fore between Brussels and Strasbourg, and Luxembourg, The EU could and should have offered better terms way back. If we put together a good team and get on with searching out our new markets – get on with that quickly – there will be other opportunities; I think that those threatening to move their businesses out will reconsider due logistics, and I think that Scotland and N. Ireland will stay with us, for the same reasons. There will be some tough times ahead, but there always have been.

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    • It is interesting that everyone is using nautical terms. Cameron gave a speech about keeping the ship steady and choosing a new Captain that steers our country to its next destination.
      Yes! I agree with you. We are all at sea in choppy waters at the moment, but as soon as we get someone at the helm and back on an even keel it will be plain sailing. All hands on deck everyone!

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    • That curly cucumber rumour was just that – a rumour, it was merely an attempt to classify the fruit, as apples, pears, plums etc. are all classified. As Commission Regulation (EC) 2257/94 puts it, bananas must be “free from malformation or abnormal curvature”. In the case of “Extra class” bananas, there is no wiggle room, but Class 1 bananas can have “slight defects of shape”, and Class 2 bananas can have full-on “defects of shape”. No attempt is made to define “abnormal curvature” in the case of bananas, and it has always been possible to buy curly bananas if you so wish. So enjoy your bananas, Myra, in whichever form you take them, but spare a thought for families off on holiday when the schools break-up who have lost at least 20% on the currency exchange. Of course, you can be happy for those coming to our shores who now have 20% more in their pockets. Let’s hope we feel the benefit¬

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    • Just a thought on the costs of bureaucrats in Brussels. We will be either recruiting, or worse, diverting existing bureaucrats to now negotiate 27 times over with Europe, not just on trade but all other aspects of things we used to share (environment, fisheries resource etc). And also to negotiate with other trading blocks. The savings, if any, are unlikely to materialise.

      You can but curly cucumbers now – we didn’t need to leave the EU for that. High price to pay.

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  10. The demographics for those who voted ‘Leave’ are those who it seems will be worse off by the UK leaving the EU. The over 60s who are already drawing their pensions will be highly likely to suffer a 3-5 year recession on their hard saved pension pots and those in the country’s most deprived areas that received the highest investment from the EU, which I can’t see the Tory’s replacing. I feel that many voted leave as the answer to a question which was not the one they were being asked. Maybe the ballot sheet should have asked ‘Are you angry at the state of the country, your life opportunites?’ or something similar. I have worked in voluntary & public services all my life to try to support and build the best opportunities for everyone in the communities where I have worked. I have also always voted for what I thought would support the kind of society I would like to live in, even though this has not always been the best for me personally. I suppose those who are relatively comfortably off (myself included here) will continue to be so, but not so for those core ‘Leave’ voters. Well, I guess that got what they asked for…
    There is a petition to parliament to implement the rules triggering a 2nd EU Referendum as the vote is less than 60% based a turnout less than 75% – it’s a legal pre-existing rule that Ferage had said he was going to implement if things had gone the other way. Over one and three quarter million people signed in only one day. I don’t really expect that we will get a rerun, but feel that it is important to show the strength of the opposition in the country and to ensure the issue is fully debated by parliament. Please sign, here is the link:
    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/131215
    Many thanks..

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    • If votes are secret, how do they know that it is the over 60s that voted out? The polls got it wrong for predicting the Referendum and I think they have it wrong here. I have spoken to different ages, races and backgrounds and it has been right across the spectrum here for in and out. There is an awful lot of hatred being spread in the media against old people at the moment – that worries me. Pensions are going to be the first things that will be cut by George Osborne – just see!
      I think indecision now is the main thing that will deepen a recession. I think we should get someone, even though it has to be a Tory, at the helm as quick as possible and get on with it. I also agree with the EU ministers that now we have said we are going to leave, we should. No good hanging around and destroying other countries. I think it would be a great idea if Ireland reunites too. The country I feel most sorry for is Gibraltar

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      • Hi SOL, I don’t think anyone is saying that all people over 50 are bad or that all young people are good (and if they are, don’t listen to them). However, there is a strong body of evidence emerging that on the whole the younger you are, the more likely you were to vote remain and the older you are the more likely to vote leave. There are some interesting breakdowns in the Financial Times here: http://blogs.ft.com/ftdata/2016/06/24/brexit-demographic-divide-eu-referendum-results/ I would urge that you don’t dismiss this evidence, but by all means question it. Our personal experiences are just that a survey of one. Based on my experience in Bristol we would have voted 95% to stay in. Across all walks of life I found little appetite for leaving. The market research smooths out these anecdotal stories and provides some empirical evidence which will in the longer term help us to understand attitudes in different places/circumstances.

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      • I couldn’t find the article on that link. I think emotions have been running high over the weekend – with Remain spokespeople practically blaming Out voters on “silly old fools” and “uneducated underclass xenophobes” while the Outers have accused the young people as “couldn’t-be-bothered-to-get-out-of-bedders” – I think the vote should have included 16-18ers too. Otherwise its a sober back to work today as usual with Italy looking like it is going to be the next Country to leave the EU.

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  11. Southampton Old Lady’s post has produced one of the best discussions on a WordPress site I’ve ever read. The girl done good! Keep going old lady.
    NB. For our overseas readers, that’s not bad grammar, just a recognisable UK expression in current use.

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  12. I’m sure we will, while deriving fun from it as well. Just a thought I had this morning – with all the fuss about unelected overseers in Brussels, we are about to have an unelected PM in this country. Who will choose him/her? The 1922 Committee? A selection of his peers? Whoever it is, I certainly won’t be allowed to have a say in it, unlike a General election.

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    • Just like we didn’t vote for Gordon Brown, it is up to the Conservative Party to elect the PM. I am not a Tory voter but hope that it is Theresa May as the one who listens the most and knows about Defence. With half the Labour Party resigning today that would not be a bad thing – we need someone to make some quick decisions while we are in uncharted territory. Let us hope that when we are back on our feet there will be an early election.

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  13. If I could have a choice from all parties for the new PM, (and I know that’s not possible, it’s just a dream,) I would vote for Frank Field – closely aided by Sadiq Khan and Theresa May. What an alliance! I’m ready to duck!

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  15. Hi Scooj… I have still been bewildered by the media response saying young people wanted to remain, when most of the ones I am aware of were avid leavers (and there are two universities here). I have just managed to read the Financial Times age breakdowns of the Referendum you linked me to and came to the conclusion that their charts show quite the opposite of their analysis. Just shows how they can mislead the whole media on their findings taken for granted as they are normally a trusted site.
    Here are some of the comments in reply:

    susanmary: Your data shows eg. places with highest numbers of degree educated people correlated with a higher likelihood of voting “remain”. For example, where 30% of voters have degrees, 50 % voted to remain (and 50% voted to leave). But so what? You can’t conclude from that that people with degrees more likely voted to remain.
    Isn’t there a better source of data that shows voting by person (age, educational attainment, etc)?  I guess not. You are therefor left with these maybe, perhaps type of conclusions. 

    Comment by 11AD: Very impressive data.
    a) The youth vote data would seem to indicate the contrary of your conclusion. It indicates that younger people voted to leave.

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