I predict riots before the end of January demanding to re-join. The UK had 4 years to put together something for their borders: they have failed to prepare in every meaningful way. – Anticipating a delay in a streamlined border procedure they started to build huge lorry parks. The delay in streamlining the customs procedure has of course materialized, but they failed to even build the car park on time.
There was never a serious plan to do this. Serious people threw up their hands in disgust and went to do something else back in 2016. (remember the references to navigator as a modern browser in British documents for the trade agreement? Where did they copy that shit? of the History channel?)
After 1 week there are already reports of issues with supply of fresh food. Society is only 3 meals away from anarchy. In Johnson’s case I don’t think he’ll last that long.
How long is it going to be before you realize that Brexit is inseparable from the people who voted for and implemented it? Boris Johnson became PM specifically to manage Brexit. If he hasn’t planned for it, that’s his fault.
For context: I would like you to bring a packed lunch the next time you fly internationally. I don’t care between which 2 countries (as long as they are not both in the EU).
This is what a “normal” border looks like. This is what the British people thought they wanted.
– A couple years back I went to Croatia on holidays, I was crossing a “real” border (not an airport) for the first time in decades. I was actually a bit intimidated. I thought Checkpoint Charlie looked intimidating during the cold war. That was actually a really friendly place compared to a outside border of the EU.
Brexit or no Brexit, the UK will continue down it’s path to becoming a worse country to live in.
Mass immigration will go on largely unchecked, houses will continue becoming harder and harder to buy unless you have kids and claim off the state, and taxes especially now we have covid will increase for the foreseeable future.
Add to this the inevitable privatisation of the NHS, Brexit should be the least concern for most people in the UK.
I don’t think anyone is going to be taking to streets anytime soon. Every day there are dire warnings about the COVID pandemic. Don’t go out. Don’t meet others. Or you risk spreading the virus to the old folks and the hospitals are operating at capacity. Only go out to the shops to buy food. Exercise is allowed, but no sitting on park benches. It is like it was in March except the weather is much worse: cold, wet and miserable. The only thing to get excited about is the rollout of the vaccine and the prospect of getting back to some kind of normality in a few months.
Brexit, for most in the UK, is something the government has been obsessing about for four years. Most people really do not know what the fuss is about. The UK public was asked a simple question and gave a simple answer.
The fact that it involves the dismantling of a large amount of legislation accumulated over four decades, solving a delicate constitutional border issue, renegotating a trade deal with the EU, then trying to develop new trade deals with many countries across the world, thereby fundamentally shifting the basis of UK trade. All of this was not really apparent. It was supposed to be simple and if the politicians are finding it hard work, then more fool them for asking the question in the first place.
The news is dominated by the heroic drama that is unfolding about the national vaccination roll out, which is a great cause for optimism after a depressing year. This has pretty much eclipsed concerns about Brexit…for now.
It will be back in the news when the focus has shifted from the pandemic to the awful recession that is looming and the desperate attempts by the government to get the parts of the economy restarted after being closed down for months. Some the growth that is needed is going to be held back by the changes brought in by Brexit. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth by business as they find they have to deal with lots of obstacles to doing business that were not there before Brexit. It will be interesting to see the practical affects on the man or woman in the street. Brexit, up to now, has been a largely political abstraction that is easy to ignore.
I predict many articles will be written comparing what you could do before and after Brexit to educate the public and the business community exactly what the country has bought into. I think the reaction will be ‘so whose bright idea was this’ as the shifty politicians all start pointing fingers at each other.
A point that was made many times in the SDMB threads on Brexit over the past four years: Britain can be in the EU, have input into the rules, and then be required to comply with them, or Britain can be out of the EU, have no input into the rules, and then be required to comply with them.
“UK sovereignty” never meant “Britain doesn’t have to comply with EU rules”.
I don’t know. It’s been a while I guess. Travel has become so much easier within the EU that i’m not as used to it anymore.
I can absolutely understand those policemen, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that we have so much to deal with already and this is kind of sad. Maybe because apparently the drivers didn’t know that these were going to be the rules. Did no one inform them? I wouldn’t even be surprised. I guess i feel sorry for all of us in this. So much wasted energy. The gift that keeps on giving…
I know. But in that sense Brexiteers are just as delusional as Trumpists. It’s just… sad. Especially because they are in an immense health crisis already. The fact that they brought it upon themselves doesn’t make me want to rejoice, as goes for the US for that matter.
I must admit that reading about enthusiastic Brexiteers going broke because their business relies on exporting to the EU triggers my Schadefreude. But it cannot be stressed enough that the UK was brought here by vulture capitalist exploiting the worst tendencies of humanity (Xenophobia and Nationalism). Johnson and his cronies are only in it to line their pockets. The rubes need to realize this quickly, quit facebook, switch to a decent newspaper (Murdoch is really reaping havoc in the English speaking world) and start voting for for non-corrupt politicians.
