# What will the UK do wrt Brexit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 18, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799 "2019-02-18T22:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 58
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1141 "2019-05-24T13:10:46Z")
I’m reminded of one of my favorite jokes from [_Waiting for God_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0743318/characters/nm0170789): > [@](#): > > Tom : You’re foreign, aren’t you? > > Lucy Maitland : What? > > Tom : And your work permit has run out. And the police are after you, and that’s why you want to marry an Englishman. > > Lucy Maitland : My family’s been living in this area since the Norman Conquest, 1066. > > Tom : Nine hundred years without a work permit! I know all about you Normans, coming over here and taking jobs from hard-working Anglo-Saxons. Oh, why couldn’t he have met a healthy Essex girl? Oh, shame and ruin on our family! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1142 "2019-05-24T13:25:16Z")
> [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](#): > > Those are the official figures but hugely underestimate the actual numbers. For example back in 2007 the “food and used food” estimate put the real number at 80,000,000. Cite? And something relatively recent, please. Looking at my belly, I probably eat for two. 🙂 More seriously, there is a significant amount of food wastage (UK government pdf report [here](https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmenvfru/429/429.pdf)). [Second cite](http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/courtauld-2025-baseline-and-restated-household-food-waste-figures). 10 million tonnes feeds a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1143 "2019-05-24T13:38:44Z")
Only an idiot would want to be the next Prime Minister, given that failure is almost guaranteed. However, there are plenty of idiots in the Tory Party who are queuing up. They will fail because Parliament will remain unchanged. Support of Parliament is needed for any outcome, and there is no support for no-deal, and no support for half-in, half-out like May’s deal. The EU is not going to offer better terms, and the Tories are (rightly) afraid of a general election. So the next Prime Minister will be in exactly the same position as May. Talking any amount of bullshit won’t change the facts. The end result will be another failed PM, followed by another referendum, and revoking A50. ---
**Author:** ![Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malaclypse_the_elder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1144 "2019-05-24T13:39:37Z")
Here’s a starter for ten. Independent 28 October 2007 :- News \> Business \> Business Comment City Eye: Facts on a plate: our population is at least 77 million. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1145 "2019-05-24T13:51:53Z")
> [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](#): > > Those are the official figures but hugely underestimate the actual numbers. For example back in 2007 the “food and used food” estimate put the real number at 80,000,000. > > Food and used food? > > By taking the food consumption and sewage contents, both of which are objective, the size of a population can be determined with considerable accuracy. > > That was over ten years ago. > [@](#): > > Estimates based on the food etc. metric indicates that up to a hundred million is possible but I would point for a smaller number but still much more than the official number. So your argument is “The reported number - which is based on a complex, tested and verified methodology - is wrong, and that’s why the “real” number - based on vague, unsubstantiated methodology and tangential data - is better, even though the margin of error is +/- 25%”. Gotcha. Also, you have failed to demonstrate that the differences in various population estimates are due to evil scrounging illegal immigrants. > [@](#): > > The number of foreigners now living and predating off our tax payer funded welfare state not to mention adding to our imports bill but producing virtually nothing to increase our export value are ruining life for the indigenous British population. There is no actual main verb in that sentence, but you make up for it with a lot of fundamentally incorrect assertions. In real life, immigrants actually are responsible for more economic growth and job creation per capita than the native population. > [@](#): > > Then there’s the so-called cultures the have brought into our land. Knife crime, wall to wall drugs, drug gangs, terrorism, grooming of our kids because the religion they follow tells them it’s ok to do so (and it does) and so much more. Yes, there was no terrorist bombings in the UK by good honest white people before the recent wave of Muslim terrorism. And no knife crime, drugs or drug gangs, and certainly no violent East End gangsters held up as heroes and role models. And there were no indigenously British pedophiles grooming and molesting children - you’d certainly never find anyone like that in the churches, the BBC, Parliament (both Houses), football camps, military academies, the NHS, care homes… ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1146 "2019-05-24T14:03:14Z")
> [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](#): > > Almost true, but not quite. Exit polls have taken place and the Dutch exit results are being published already. Indicative UK exit polls already are circulating and are pretty much similar. Google it a bit, you may need to use a European VPN though. I think that the UK Daily Express may be accessable without using a VPN but don’t know for certain. I’m in England: I looked at the Express, the article you refer to s is about an opinion poll that took place just before the elections, not an exit poll. There’s also an article in the Express explaining that there will be no exit poll in the UK for the reason I mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1147 "2019-05-24T14:04:06Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Not in the eyes of Brexit voters. So what? Leaving the EU will harm the UK, so MPs should be acting to stop it. We elect MPs to represent our interests, and it’s in all our interests that this farce ends as soon as possible, and we retain full EU membership. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1148 "2019-05-24T14:05:11Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I pict up on that, too. Oh, well played! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1149 "2019-05-24T14:25:09Z")
So is there any chance of a pro-Remain PM candidate with a chance to win? Or a pro-new-referendum candidate? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1150 "2019-05-24T14:32:58Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > So what? Leaving the EU will harm the UK, That is often stated by Remainers, but only time will tell if it’s actually true. Back in 2016 a lot of people who voted to leave said that they thought that Brexit would cause problems in the short term but would be to the UK’s long-term benefit. > [@](#): > > and it’s in all our interests that this farce ends as soon as possible, and we retain full EU membership. The expressed interest - as determined in the 2016 referendum - of the UK is that we leave. ---
**Author:** ![Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malaclypse_the_elder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1151 "2019-05-24T14:40:49Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > This is a significant factor hereabouts. > > This, however, is a gross distortion. As of 2017 there were 3.7 million EU immigrants; there were also 5.7 million non-EU immigrants. [Cite](https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-an-overview/). Yes, this is a doubling of the 2004 numbers but the UK’s total population is over 65 million. Immigrants are still a small minority. They breed like rabbits which is why the gross figure of the UK population is what matters, not just the number of immigrants. ---
**Author:** ![Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malaclypse_the_elder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1152 "2019-05-24T14:44:23Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > So is there any chance of a pro-Remain PM candidate with a chance to win? Or a pro-new-referendum candidate? Non whatsoever. Apart from anything else the damage that May has done to the Conservative Party is so extreme that the cost to any party that even fielded anyone with the slightest faint of not being 100% escaper would be massive. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1153 "2019-05-24T14:45:49Z")
> [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](#): > > (Snip) > … > Then there’s the so-called cultures the have brought into our land. Knife crime, wall to wall drugs, drug gangs, terrorism, grooming of our kids because the religion they follow tells them it’s ok to do so (and it does) and so much more. Wow. I guess I’m naive; I truly didn’t think this sort of nativist, nationalist thinking existed in the Western world, outside the US. (I mean, I’m aware that racism exists in Europe, but I thought it was a bit more subtle and masked; I didn’t expect to hear Tea Party rhetoric from a European.This could have been written by Donald Trump.) ETA: Or a Grand Wizard in a bedsheet… ---
**Author:** ![Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malaclypse_the_elder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1154 "2019-05-24T14:49:36Z")
Never mind. It’s now turning out for the best. We’re en route to getting OUR country back. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1155 "2019-05-24T14:56:00Z")
> [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](#): > > Never mind. It’s now turning out for the best. We’re en route to getting OUR country back. And it won’t be long before the Scottish are taking their country back, and then the Irish with Northern Ireland, and then we’ll see if Wales wants to join in… and all of them may elect to be in the EU. It will certainly be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malaclypse_the_elder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1156 "2019-05-24T15:02:06Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Wow. I guess I’m naive; I truly didn’t think this sort of nativist, nationalist thinking existed in the Western world, outside the US. (I mean, I’m aware that racism exists in Europe, but I thought it was a bit more subtle and masked; I didn’t expect to hear Tea Party rhetoric from a European.This could have been written by Donald Trump.) > > ETA: Or a Grand Wizard in a bedsheet… What is wrong with being a “Nationalist”? What is wrong with having pride in one’s birth nation, especially in the case of England? What is wrong with being a nativist? Or being judgemental? Or accepting that our way of life is best or us though not necessarily for other nationalities or “cultures” or races? Or that theirs is not compatible with ours? Why should WE change, especially to incorporate values and even morality from foreigners? For that matter while the present POTUS may be a bit gauche the is no way that he could be described as being anti-American in his values or his actions. Such a change from Barack Hussein eh? ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1157 "2019-05-24T15:04:25Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > That is often stated by Remainers, but only time will tell if it’s actually true. Back in 2016 a lot of people who voted to leave said that they thought that Brexit would cause problems in the short term but would be to the UK’s long-term benefit. They damage is already happening. > [@](#): > > The expressed interest - as determined in the 2016 referendum - of the UK is that we leave. I didn’t say the desire or opinion of the people in the UK, I said the interest of the UK as a whole. That is not something that can be determined by a vote, only by looking at the facts. We elect people to represent our interests, not our views. They are not there to do as we tell them, they are there to do what is needed to be done. There may well be legitimate disagreements about what that is, but a referendum doesn’t show that. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1158 "2019-05-24T15:04:33Z")
> [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](#): > > What is wrong with being a “Nationalist”? What is wrong with having pride in one’s birth nation, especially in the case of England? What is wrong with being a nativist? Or being judgemental? Or accepting that our way of life is best or us though not necessarily for other nationalities or “cultures” or races? Or that theirs is not compatible with ours? Why should WE change, especially to incorporate values and even morality from foreigners? > > For that matter while the present POTUS may be a bit gauche the is no way that he could be described as being anti-American in his values or his actions. > > Such a change from Barack Hussein eh? Trump is doing far, far more damage to America than Obama ever even conceived of. ---
**Author:** ![Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malaclypse_the_elder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1159 "2019-05-24T15:08:31Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > And it won’t be long before the Scottish are taking their country back, and then the Irish with Northern Ireland, and then we’ll see if Wales wants to join in… and all of them may elect to be in the EU. > > It will certainly be interesting. Scotland and Wales are totally dependent on being aligned with England because without being so they could not survive financially. As for the people of Ulster, the danger of being invaded by a foreign power, Eire, that is on the other part of the island of Ireland would preclude wanting anything other than ever closer with the other parts of the UK quite apart from Ulster folk being British through and true. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799/1160 "2019-05-24T15:10:19Z")
> [@Malaclypse\_the\_elder](#): > > Scotland and Wales are totally dependent on being aligned with England because without being so they could not survive financially. As for the people of Ulster, the danger of being invaded by a foreign power, Eire, that is on the other part of the island of Ireland would preclude wanting anything other than ever closer with the other parts of the UK quite apart from Ulster folk being British through and true. Scotland may well decide they have a much better economic future in the EU than the UK, but we shall see. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799.md?page=57) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-uk-do-wrt-brexit/829799.md?page=59)