I just saw a tweet that described it as the “greatest fraud and disaster on the population of the United Kingdom” which seems a bit hyperbolic but I thought I’d ask.
Has Brexit changed your life in any meaningful way either good or bad?
I’m British, but not a resident. It has made renewing my passport a little harder and more expensive (I have to locate certified copies of a bunch of documents related to my now long dead grandparents)
I’d have never advocated Brexit. I worked in the hospitality industry with a bunch of Polish people and lived in a part of London with a predominant Afghani population, and, well… I learned a huge amount about cooking and humour and the value that immigrants can bring.
Let’s keep Britain multi-ethnic.
For most people, I’d say there is no day to day difference.
But the country is that much poorer economically (and I’d say culturally).
And obviously some people will have been hit hard, eg if they relied on freedom of movement.
As a metaphysical poet ( John Donne ) once wrote:
To be honest, I can’t say I’ve noticed any really major changes.
All the foods we like are still there in the shops. Haven’t seen any major price alterations?
Maybe a bit more paperwork if you want to travel to France etc… but as long as you have a passport with at least 6 months remaining, no big deal. It’s a bit disappointing that we Brits no longer have an automatic right to live and work in the EU… I’m retired now, but I would have liked that for my children.
As for migrants: it seems that more than ever are crossing the channel in unsafe boats.
So it hasn’t stopped that: but how was it ever supposed to make a difference anyway?
Here’s James O’Brien’s radio show from Friday 31st Feb 2025, the 5th anniversary of the UK’s
leaving the EU… a bit long but good for a laugh !
On a day-to-day basis there isn’t much change except for the general effects of the economy being worse. The sky didn’t fall in, neither did we really experience anything positive from it.
Having said that, if you are in a business that was exporting goods to the EU then your job is either considerably harder than it used to be or your job doesn’t exist anymore. A few other areas including financial services and university research programs have also been negatively impacted to one degree or another.
I don’t think I’ve met anyone or heard any news stories concerning people who have seen a significant positive change either.
The reporting I’ve seen so far is that
- Smaller businesses just quit exporting (a 40% drop).
Bigger businesses can absorb the higher costs of the extra red tape better. - Actual number of immigration have spiked (doubled and tripled) and haven’t come down meaningfully.
- Officials have been quietly adopted European norms 1:1 and the British CE mark (whatever that was called) is going the way of the dodo.
- Europe is quietly strongarming the UK back into various student exchange programs.
- Border controls on incoming goods from the EU haven’t been implemented yet. (And likely never will)
Often it is difficult to pin down what changes are due to Brexit and what is due to other things and what is a bit of a mix.
Personnally the direct changes are minimal, Duty might be paid on goods I but in the EU but I rarely do this (directly) anyway. As well as showing my passport at the airport when I arrive / leave an EU airport they stamp it but I haven’t noticed a change to the processing time (not that I travel much).
Prices have risen faster since Brexit and in the years immediately before and Europhiles will say much of that is due to Brexit but I think the strongest drivers for this were other events, Russia invading Ukraine put up the cost of fuel significantly and that greatly increase the cost of transporting and manufacturing goods. Prices have risen a lot faste rin the US in the same period and I don’t think that is due to Brexit.
Some industry says it is hard to find labour, a lot of people left the labour market during Covid and never came back as well as it being harder to employ people from countries like Poland and Rumania. Brexit is linked to an anti immigration which doesn’t have to be the case, the UK government could make it easier for people to come to the UK to work,either from the UK or countries like commonwealth nations where we have a lot of historic links and English is widely spoken but a lot of Brexiteers voted that way because they want less immegrants and government policy has been to keep them happy.
Not being tied to EU regulations is a benefit, I read several companies are doing well selling wine with a mix of grapes frm different countries something which is prohibited under EU law.
On a similar basis EU import tariffs are designed to protect EU producers as a whole from cheap imports, some of these products have no UK production so it doesn’t protect the UK economy, for example the EU has import tariffs on oranges so when we were in the EU most of the grapes and oranges etc I bought came from Spain or other EU countries, now it is much more common for them to come from non EU countries. I can not prove that if we in the EU I would be paying more for such items but I suspect that is the case.
I’m not British, but from talking with British fellow hobbyists of various ilk, things have certainly changed, with formerly problem-free continental European sources of gear, materials etc. drying up, and vice versa.
The bigger picture here of course is that myriad small specialty companies in the EU that used to have substantial revenue from the UK, and similar companies in the UK that used to have substantial revenue from the continent, are suffering.
Some have for agri/horticultural imports, but they’re understaffed and inefficient (per a piece in last Sunday’s Countryfile). Lorries arriving at Dover have to go 20 miles inland to the inspection centre at Shevington - so no-one knows if anything’s offloaded before it gets there; plus there are reports of goods spoiled while waiting or by clumsy inspectors.
As someone on comfortable, inflation-proofed pensions, I’m not, so far, directly affected (except to the extent that the hit to GDP growth led to the means-testing on Winter Fuel Allowance, but that was overdue in principle anyway). The major effect is sluggish to no growth and the more nebulous sense of a lack of relevance/significance internationally, and the consequent unsteadiness in international relationships. Worst strategic error since the collapse of the tripartite (Anglo-Franco-US) defence agreement in 1920.
As an individual, it’s hard to say whether Brexit has had a major impact on my life. Cost of living has certainly soared, but that’s been the case everywhere. I’ve had to stand in line at some European airports along with ‘other aliens’, gazing wistfully at the empty EU channel - interestingly, the UK still allows EU nationals to use the UK channel when entering the country.
We’ll never feel the impact on our wider communities because we won’t miss the road or bridge that was never built with EU funds. I miss the number of EU colleagues I used to have. I feel very sore that I’ll never fulfil my dream of moving to Italy. But most of all, I just really really loath the concept of rejecting our friends and neighbours, and casting ourselves adrift on this tiny island. I loved being part of the family. I liked the EU flag on my car number plate. It made me feel less of a stranger when I drove to the continent.
I still feel really upset about it actually. Like a divorce I never wanted.