# Explain BRexit to me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-brexit-to-me/827839 "2019-01-16T01:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-brexit-to-me/827839/41 "2019-01-18T00:45:11Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Also we should point out the EU is not going to make it easy to leave. No. The EU makes it easy to leave. The Treaty contains a leaving mechanism, which a member state can invoke and implement without any agreement from the Union or from other member states. It’s hard to leave in a way that is advantageous to the departing member state, but that’s not because of impediments in the leaving process. It’s because membership is very advantageous, and leaving inherently involves sacrificing the advantages of membership. > [@md2000](#): > > There’s that fake motivational poster showing a picture of a disaster, a ship sinking, “Maybe your purpose in life is to serve as an object lesson to others”. > The EU is definitely making UK an object lesson to others who might consider leaving. And, of course, the UK does not have a lot of leverage. Again, I’d disagree. The EU is not making an Awful Example of the UK. The UK is making an Awful Example of itself. Its engagement with the process of leaving has, from go to woe, been an absolute shambles. Every possible advantage or opportunity has been squandered; every possible error has been made. And these have all been unforced errors on the part of the UK. The EU is frankly astonished by how badly the UK has handled this. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-brexit-to-me/827839/42 "2019-01-18T10:10:05Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > The EU is not making an Awful Example of the UK. The UK is making an Awful Example of itself. It’s a little of both: the UK is making an Awful Example of itself and the EU is happy to let it do it as an example to others. The EU could probably ease the departure but they have no reason to be helpful; conversely, they could make things harder but they know perfectly well they don’t need to. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-brexit-to-me/827839/43 "2019-01-18T12:20:31Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Yes, you it’s harder to negotiate an exit in your favor, when you’ve already declared that you’re leaving, and have a statutory obligation to do so within a fixed timeframe. And if you haven’t a clear consensus view of what sort of future relationship you want, and the most ardent supporters of those who want to leave imagined that somehow the existing membership with opt-outs from some key elements could be replaced by non-membership with opt-ins for some more elements. Cherry-picking was never on the agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-brexit-to-me/827839/44 "2019-01-18T19:13:01Z")
And if the governing party is badly split internally on the very issue whether the EU is a good thing. And if the PM who caused the mess just buggers off, leaving other people to pick up the pieces, forcing a leadership contest on extremely short notice. And if in that leadership contest, the potential leadership candidates who supported “Leave” knife each other. And if the governing party elects as leader and PM a proponent of “Stay”, and then give her the job of negotiating “Leave”. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-brexit-to-me/827839/45 "2019-01-19T15:40:32Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > There’s that fake motivational poster showing a picture of a disaster, a ship sinking, “Maybe your purpose in life is to serve as an object lesson to others”. It’s not a fake motivational poster, it’s a real demotivational poster from Despair Inc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-brexit-to-me/827839.md?page=2)